TRANSPORT Minister Audley Shaw has announced that, during the next few years, airports across the island are set to benefit from significant upgrades that will cost over US$200 million.

Shaw, who recently took over the reins of the ministry, was speaking on Wednesday at a contract-signing ceremony for work to extend the runway at Sangster International Airport (SIA) in Montego Bay.

“Between the AAJ (Airports Authority of Jamaica), MBJ [Airports Ltd] and PACKAL (PAC Kingston Airport Limited), there is a committed capital expenditure of over US$200 million to place within our airports over the period 2022 to 2025, of which US$70 million is slated to be spent in 2022/23,” the minister said.

A principal part of that roll-out is the work to extend the runway at Sangster from 2,662 metres to 3,060 metres. The work will also include provision for an additional 90 metres of a runway safety area at both ends of the runway.

This work, which is expected to cost US$34 million and is being funded through the Airport Improvement Fund (AIF), is scheduled to get going in the first quarter of this year. It is being carried out by United Kingdom-based firm Lagan Aviation and Infrastructure.

“We are looking forward to receiving ever-increasing wide-body and long-haul aircraft from nations as far as Europe and beyond,” MBJ Chief Executive Officer Shane Munroe said, noting that the runway extension will allow the airport to accommodate larger planes.

Minister Shaw further shared that MBJ, through its own funding, is set to invest US$150 million as part of its current master plan at SIA, a move that will further boost the airport’s capacity and passenger experience.

In relation to Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) in Kingston, Shaw said improvement works will include the development of a two-megawatt solar system, runway paving, a waste-water treatment plant rehabilitation project, among others.

Meanwhile, Ian Fleming International Airport in St Mary is set to be outfitted with a new fire station that is projected to cost $130 million. That work is scheduled to start in March and completion is expected in December this year.

According to the minister, there are now discussions afoot with several major airlines to have their smaller planes land there, and so the fire station would be crucial in that endeavour.

“That will be a further expansion of our tourism business, and it is very much something that will be commencing once the fire station is completed… all of these things will be part of our expansion programme,” he said.

He also revealed that there is ongoing work for the NMIA/Port Royal Road Shoreline Protection Project, which started in October last year and will cost US$7.1 million. This work should be completed in the middle of this year.

The island’s aerodromes, he added, will be getting attention as well.