Beef Island Airport to become regional hub - Tourism Minister
A strategic planning and visioning exercise is expected to be initiated shortly to position the Terrance B Lettsome International Airport as a leading airport and eventually a hub in the Caribbean.
This is according to Premier Andrew Fahie, who made the announcement at a press conference recently.
To this end, the Premier said reviews will be undertaken for the development of the airport’s master plan and land-use plan to support the development of the airport.
He said this will be inclusive of the extension of the runway and associated facilities.
According to Premier Fahie, who also serves as the BVI‘s Minister of Tourism, under the leadership of the new Managing Director of the BVI Airports Authority, Kurt Menal, that entity has already begun work to improve the guest experience to align the airport with the expectations of the BVI’s airport users.
He said work is also being done to compliment the Virgin Islands as a top tourist destination to raise the regional and international profile of the airport and to boost its revenue generation capabilities.
The Premier said that the process for streamlining the organisational structure of the airport for efficiency and effectiveness has already begun, even as the Managing Director’s organisation assessment diagnosis is underway.
All of this, he added, is in addition to a comprehensive beautification and maintenance exercise which has already begun.
“The passenger journey,” Premier Fahie said, “is re-being redesigned to improve the flow and passenger comfort and the process has been started to introduce a duty-free store at the airport.”
The Premier further revealed that as part of the overall rebranding exercise, a fully functioning customer service department has been established and the Airports Authority has partnered with the BVI Tourist Board to rebrand its taxi dispatch service.
To this end, the Premier said reviews will be undertaken for the development of the airport’s master plan and land-use plan to support the development of the airport.
He said this will be inclusive of the extension of the runway and associated facilities.
According to Premier Fahie, who also serves as the BVI‘s Minister of Tourism, under the leadership of the new Managing Director of the BVI Airports Authority, Kurt Menal, that entity has already begun work to improve the guest experience to align the airport with the expectations of the BVI’s airport users.
He said work is also being done to compliment the Virgin Islands as a top tourist destination to raise the regional and international profile of the airport and to boost its revenue generation capabilities.
The Premier said that the process for streamlining the organisational structure of the airport for efficiency and effectiveness has already begun, even as the Managing Director’s organisation assessment diagnosis is underway.
All of this, he added, is in addition to a comprehensive beautification and maintenance exercise which has already begun.
“The passenger journey,” Premier Fahie said, “is re-being redesigned to improve the flow and passenger comfort and the process has been started to introduce a duty-free store at the airport.”
The Premier further revealed that as part of the overall rebranding exercise, a fully functioning customer service department has been established and the Airports Authority has partnered with the BVI Tourist Board to rebrand its taxi dispatch service.
