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Antigua’s Old Airport Terminal to Reopen Ahead of Busy Tourism Season
Antigua and Barbuda’s old airport terminal is on track to reopen later this year as the country prepares for a surge in cruise tourism and homeporting activity during the peak season.
Tourism and Aviation Minister Charles ‘Max’ Fernandez confirmed that renovation works are progressing steadily, with the terminal expected to be ready by November or December.
The facility is being repurposed to process the growing number of cruise passengers travelling to the island through air connections, as part of the government’s wider tourism strategy.
“The roof has already been sealed and the final top coat is being applied,” said Fernandez.
“Once the roofing is completed, work on the interior will begin immediately. The aim is to ensure everything is in place to accommodate passenger traffic for the upcoming season.”
The reopening of the terminal forms part of a broader effort to expand the country’s capacity for homeporting — a model where cruise passengers begin and end their journey in Antigua.
This is seen as a significant economic opportunity for the country, linking airport arrivals more closely with cruise operations.
The development coincides with the near completion of the upland cruise port infrastructure, where piling works are reportedly almost finished. Authorities anticipate that part of that development will also be ready in the fourth quarter of the year.
Fernandez said the refurbishments are essential to improving the visitor experience and ensuring seamless movement of passengers between air and sea transport hubs.
In recent years, Antigua and Barbuda has seen an increase in cruise-related investments and partnerships, aimed at positioning the island as a key maritime gateway in the Caribbean.
With the old terminal set to complement these efforts, officials believe the twin-island nation is poised for a strong tourism rebound.
This article was written with support from AI.
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Homeporting growing? That sound like progress. Let’s hope it bring real jobs too.
If dem reopening it, make sure the place modern and up to international standard.
Mi hope dey nah forget to include proper facilities for taxi drivers and vendors.
Why it tek so long fi dem realize the terminal could be reused?
Aldin Crump will do his best work there, ha, Ha, Ha, jumbie know who fu friten
Sometimes politicians must listen to suggestions made by the general public. They make perfect sense from time to time. When we build the new airport we didn’t take lots of things into consideration. Like the Airplane trunk can only be used for the big planes. The small planes operated by many of the regional airline are too low and passengers needs to take the stairways or the sloops. That is a rough climb if you have carry-on luggage. Especially if your carry-on luggage are not mobile on wheels. On the other hand we have a home port airline which we call our own. LIAT 20/20. I believe LIAT 20/20 should be given its own terminal. When you travel to the many cities in the USA, American Airline has their own terminal. If we give Liat its own terminal it will give prestige to the airline. And then they do not need to rent any other place for their administrative head quarter. The old terminal would be the ideal place for that. Another suggestion would be to use the old terminal for regional flights and for flights from Barbuda only. That way people coming from and going to Barbuda do not have to go through immigration. if you take the ferry you do not need to go through immigration anyway. You do not need to show your passport etc. Let the new airport deal with the larger planes and international flights. I think we should get the Cruise Home Porting Passengers through the new terminal, so that the passenger can see that we do have a modern new International Airport. That gives them a better image of Antigua. At immigration we can create a special line for those who come from those airline that are chartered specifically for that purpose. And custom clearance we can dedicate a specific carousel for them as well. Their luggage should be tagged so that custom officers do not need to inspect them. For me the puropse of Home Porting is also to entice these passthrough passengers to come back and stay one day. The more they see of Antigua the better. I hope the minister would take these suggestions on board in his final decision making.
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