Airport bridges would add $20m to tab
Owen Roberts International Airport Terminal Concept by RS&H
(CNS): The creation of bridges to link planes to the terminal at the Grand Cayman airport would push up the renovation cost by more than 40%, officials have said. Following the unveiling of the $55 million upgrade to Owen Roberts International Airport this week some have questioned why jet bridges were not part of the design but airport officials explained that it would cost another $20 million as well as the upkeep.
Officials from Cayman Islands Airports Authority (CIAA) said that terminal congestion was the priority for this renovation project and, as a result, the costly jet-ways were ruled out.
The CIAA said the jet bridges were “a great convenience for passengers and they are something we would like to do”, but they could not make bridges work within the $55 million budget
“The estimated cost is CI $20.5 million for the jet bridges and the infrastructure that supports them, which includes elevators and escalators,” a spokesperson stated, pointing out that was almost half the cost again and did not address the main issue we have which is congestion within the terminal.
“Jet bridges are also very costly to maintain, however, if funding becomes available they will be able to be added at a later date,” the CIAA said, adding that disabled passengers would be accommodated through other means.
“CIAA has been dealing with the lack of capacity at the airport and the resulting congestion for a number of years, which at times has caused some frustration for our travellers,” the airport said in a release Thursday. “Our primary goal during the design phase of our redevelopment project was to make the best use of the funding to create more space and modernize our facility.”
Another public concern has been the farewell to the waving gallery. Officials explained that the unique and much loved feature at the George Town airport had to go for security reasons.
“The decision was made to eliminate the waving gallery due to current security regulations that do not allow for it to continue,” the spokesperson said, adding that, despite its popularity, “it is a sad fact that the world today demands that much more stringent security regulations need to be implemented.”
However, the airport will be looking for ways to incorporate canopies for rainy weather within the current budget.
The new plans do not include an extended runway, which has been on the wish list for many tourism stakeholders for more than a decade, but officials have said that will also be too costly and at this point there is not the demand.
The new airport is expected to take over two years to complete as the project will have to be done while the airport remains open to passengers. Groundbreaking is expected to take place this summer but the ribbon cutting is unlikely to happen before 2018.
Category: development, Local News
How about
– decent car parking. I love leaving my car at the airport in summer wondering if a storm will destroy it while I am away
– a parking payment system that works.
If Cayman Airways misallocated the $10.5mln in back-CIAA passenger fees in a balance sheet trick (as at Jan 2015), then who will make up this shortfall in the CIAA budget? It seems the project would already be 20% underfunded before it’s started, and we know the CIG cannot borrow more. Where will it come from? Discuss.
We don’t need jetways! Even at some major airports the planes are parked further out (when the jetways are all occupied) and people have to hop on a bus to get to the terminal, no matter if snow, ice, rain or sun! Throughout the year, how many times is the weather an issue when boarding a plane?
Also, let’s remember that bigger doesn’t always equal better! Just look at Miami airport. They increased the space for immigration and despite there being something like a gazillion immigration desks, it seems only 10 are occupied at any give time, so the wait is now longer than ever before. If you are lucky and get through immigration quickly, you are bottle-necking at customs where there is only 4-6 custom desks…….
For once, let’s try and look around and see what others have done well and not so well and keep in mind that we are a tiny Island, not a major city in a huge country!
Quite right, even BA’s prestigious Heathrow T5 uses remote stands accessed by bus.
The reason for the congestion at the airport is simple…stop scheduling majority of flights coming in during the “9-5” work day. Space out the flights and there will be less congestion. Even a “7-7” work day would be more efficient.
We have absolutely no control over this.The scheduling is done in other countries, and we have to accept it, otherwise it would be a case of the tail wagging the dog.
Cayman Airways scheduling is done locally by those that really ought not to overlap schedules or deliberately impede runway access with their “control tower priority” during peak international arrival/departure times. This routine gambit is 100% by design to “stick it to the man” out of some mis-applied nationalism and it doesn’t reflect well on us. It’s a routine “retaliatory” airport discourtesy that we should not be proud of, yet it continues. Cayman should not deliberately strive to find moments to obstruct “foreign people”, and anyone that delights or garners sick satisfaction in that impertinence should have their heads checked.
Especially all the ones who were planning for a longer runway and looking in to the costs of selling jetways it seems.
Bet the cost is on the internal structures to support the jetways, not the jetways themselves. Think of the space required, inside, to receive and route passengers comapred to teh curretn layout and you see why the cost would go so high.
The same math which was used to estimate the cost of a mobile passenger lift at $1 million (per Steve Harrell’s comments) was apparently used to price the air bridges. Mobile lifts can in fact be bought for approximately $100-150,000.
Clearly the gouging has already begun and no Jim Scott around to manage costs. RS&H have now made two bundles of money on airport design under PPM Government – 2007 and present.
I will give all of you that are confused about jet bridges a quick little lesson as to why they are not feasible at this time. I’ll start simple for ya’ll. a jet bridge is a mechanism that is essentially a tube that goes to and from an aircraft to facilitate pax boarding and deplaning. The first observation one can make of a jet bridge is that is usually connected to a boarding gate for ease of access to the aircraft. The next observation to be made would be that at ORIA the terminal does not extend nor will apparently extend in the new plans to all parking stands (8 in total) putting aside that for now ORIA will remain a one story building. One could imagine the highway of tunnels that would have to be installed to get persons from the terminal to their aircraft. These tunnels would have to be wide enough to allow several people to walk side by side at a time to reduce congestion in the tunnels.
If you did not know arriving pax and departing pax must be kept separate for security therefore at least two tunnels would be needed. Some big strong guys could be used to push wheel chairs up the ramps that everyone will complain about. Ever been on a cruise ship out of miami? Don’t miss my point of pax complaining from being confused as to where to go when boarding or deplaning.
While your at it don’t forget to figure out how to keep half mile tubes at a comfortable temperture. Taking all of this into account are you still thinking that it is worth it at this time? What I will support is the continuation of the new overhead cover down the pax boarding lane (this is where u walk when you are boarding and deplaning from the aircraft) this can only remain in the pax boarding lane tho and not extend to the aircraft as some have previously suggested for safety reasons. Hopefully now you understand that besides cost there will be other nightmares along with this including cooling, extra personnel to man intersections, many fire escape exits which will also have to be manned for pax control once pax have evacuated onto the tarmac again for safety reasons.
This is probably the best comment posted here far. Simple message – it ain’t doable so forget it and get on with the general redevelopment of ORIA.
Wow, very misleading Kadafe. Half mile tunnels, wide enough for two lanes of traffic, security personnel at the entrances? I have traveled the world over and never seen this. Have you even been on a plane before?
The planes can park 50ft from the building IF you eliminate the walkways. Hardly rocket science. The jetway entrance to the building has two doors. The departure door is locked while passengers are disembarked, directing them to Customs/ Immigration, and then opened when its time to board departing passengers. Again, basic design and crowd management. Passengers are loaded or unloaded one group at a time, no need for jetways wide enough to accommodate 2 lanes of traffic. I doubt they even exist. You really need to get out more.
What I’m saying is that to have jet bridges you would need infrastructure to support the jet bridges. Ex. A way to get persons to the jet bridges from our single story terminal building. the reason you have not seen this type of thing before is because I repeat again jet bridges are typically right at the boarding gate where the plane is parked right outside the gate. With our terminal we have 8 parking stands. 5 boarding gates. The part of the terminal that is used for boarding only is only as long as two parking stands on on earth do u propose to get persons to the other 6 parking stands and then up to the jet bridge for boarding the aircraft if not tunnels? In fact what would be the point of even having a jet bridge if you still have to walk in the rain to get to the jet bride.On your second point of crowd control, aircraft arrive at different times so they deplane and board at different times there is no way to coordinate this during peak hours without using personnel to separate the crowds. When an aircraft lands here it is their top priority to achieve the fastest turn around possible. It’s impossible and unreasonable to tell them that they have to wait to deplane or wait for boarding and furthermore not the airports problem. The airport themself need the aircraft to get out of here fast also to accommodate the next one in line. That’s how they make money. I still go with my suggested idea of extending the covered walkway down the pax boarding lane. This will give cover from the rain and sun and not be a huge cost in comparison to the jet bridges. Also it will not affect any of the processes already in place for deplaning\boarding of pax. I have taken this time to try to explain it a bit more to you as I feel a bit more explanation should have been given to the public than just it’s too expensive. I’m trying to give you a view of the big picture.
One question that has not been raised… Exactly how many jetways were they talking about installing for $20 million? A quick Google search revealed that an airport in Iowa is installing 5 new bridges for US$3.2 million, how on earth do they get CI$20 million?
If we do some quick math, let’s say ORIA was referring to 10 jetways (which I’m sure they were planning on less) and Iowa’s price is just over $600,000 per bridge. Politicians and cronnies need to get paid though, so let’s over price by 30% and call it $800k per jetway, so $8 million total. Now, let’s be generous and DOUBLE that price for supporting infrastructure, (for what, an elevator and 2 escalators) and you are still at $16 million.
Is that really “too expensive”? Hell, CIG could pay for this in 1-year from the passenger tax alone, much less the 1-billion in annual revenue. This is a 20-30 year project. Wake up CIG!
Add to that: CIAA’s theoretical passenger tax was collected and willfully misappropriated by Cayman Airways. A whopping $10mln was owed as of Jan 2015 and represents 20% of the categorized “receivable” budget towards this project. Where is this money that didn’t belong to them? What did CAL do with it, and why? Enquiries? Charges?
We all know the 20-year lifespan will be more like 30-40 years before it’s upgraded again. And they call this design “first class?” It’s not even close to our competitors in the region, like St. Martin, Curaçao, Aruba, Bahamas. And we are supposed to be a medical tourism destination?
And please stop pretending like Jetways are cutting edge and too difficult or expensive to maintain. They have been around since the 1950’s, are reliable and proven the world over. $20 Million is a drop in the bucket for something that will affect every tourist and resident alike. For once CIG, do it right the first time!
Quote, “They have been around since the 1950’s, are reliable and proven the world over.”
So have garbage trucks and other pieces of fairly low-tech mechanical equipment but it still doesn’t stop public employees trashing them.
The real issue here isn’t the just the cost of the jetways but whether the skills and general mindset exists amongst the people operating them to keep them serviceable. I don’t what the potential penalties for airline delays caused by a jetway going tech are but when your nearest source of parts and proper technical backup is probably going to be in the USA it’s worth factoring in. This isn’t a case where repairs are dealt with on a ‘soon come’ basis – any potential mechanical issue will have to be fixed immediately and I don’t see that happening.
As has been posted before at least two airports serving London in the UK still use walk-out gates and that’s in a situation where disabled access is mandatory – if they can do it so can ORIA.
8:01, so you are saying we can train pilots and aircraft mechanics to fly and maintain JET AIRPLANES, but we cant train personnel to maintain a jetway? How ridiculous!
$20,000,000.00 is only one third of the extra cost McKeeva Bush and company added on to the cost of the Frank Sound High School. Add on all of the other wasteful spending of the UPD and McKeeva blew the budget for the next decade or so easily. Now not only do we suffer but each and every person that lands foot on Grand Cayman through Owen Roberts airport has to suffer as well. Big Thanks to McKeeva- NOT!!!!
Two choices here –
Install jetways so ORIA can take on the pretentions of a major airport but then we have to deal with the problems and delays caused when they break down due to poor maintenance, sloppy handling or any one of the numerous other issues that plague publicly-owned and operated (think of the garbage trucks!) mechanical equipment.
Stick to the simple and safe option – nothing to break, nothing to go wrong and most importantly no way that careless operation can damage a multi-million dollar jet aircraft.
Sounds like a no-brainer to me.
LOL. Don’t you mean ‘idiot proof’ rather than simple and safe?
So without jetways the proposal is to build an airport for late 21st century capacity based upon 1980’s standards?
Just take away all the costly Glass and redesign with the jetways!! You really think the maintenance and added power cost to cool the building with all that glass would’nt be more than the upkeep of the jetways! NO WAY!
They will use thermal underground cooling system which it is much cheaper than CUC, about up to 75% saving costs or even using sea water for cooling system like at Camana bay
camana bay cooling system with sea water?? really? the chiller plant use water, but sea water?? lol
Apparently the design was inspired by the local culture. Which is surprising.
Ex post facto media spin. You cannot be inspired by something that does not exist. Saying that the “culture” they cited was really just geography more than anything really cultural. But the PR squad did their best with what little there was to work with.
Once I got soaking wet boarding a plane. I had 3 stopovers and more than 10,000 flying miles ahead of me. No time to change clothes in between flights and it was in a checked in luggage anyway. And it was a winter time everywhere else. NOT A VERY PLEASANT MEMORY.
Lesson from travel 101 always have at least two days supplies in your carry on for delays, lost baggage etc!
Ask for an umbrella next time. Problem solved.
I have been flying in and out of ORIA for 35+ years and I have never gotten “soaked”. If it’s raining hard, wait 5 minutes and the sun will be out.
Thank you “know it all”. I was so stupid not to think about it. When you are midway on the airstairs, and there is a delay and the rain hits,not much you can do, you are stuck. It takes less than 30 seconds to get soaked when it is pouring.
Instead of installing jetways, why not extend the existing covered walkways out to where the planes park for passengers to board and de-board the planes? This will provide adequate protection from sun, rain and the occasional snow…..the same stair trucks can be used, and for passengers that can not walk up and down the stairs, they can just use the luggage loading/unloading belts…..
Leave the present terminal as is and do a renovation, build a second terminal for US only flights with a US customs and immigration.
Old terminal can handle BA, WestJet, Air Canada, Cayman Airways (except US flights) Blue Sky, Express…
Inbound flights would still have to clear with local border control as they would be entering the Islands and most outbound flights no longer have to deal with local border control anyway so I don’t really see this fixing much. It would only really help outbound passengers as they wouldn’t have to clear CBC in the US.
I love coming home and one of the reasons is because our airport is not a monstrous jungle of corridors. Yes, the airport needs updating and expansion but lets build an airport that is true to Cayman. We don’ need jetways. All our guests enjoy walking out into the sunshine as it reinforces that you’ve just landed on a sunny Caribbean island. I also think we need a public viewing gallery. This again adds to the charm of the airport. Enclose it if you have to but have one.
Yes, I love getting soaked in the summer.
We love to act like we aren’t located in the topics and that it never rains here.
I love the airport just the way it is.
Perhaps if you spread out the flights instead of cramming them into one 12 hour shift things would be a lot better.
If you want to dump and waste money perhaps just give it away and cut out the game
Looking at it ts going to be a nice greenhouse to grow some vegetables in that’s for sure.
What about a covered drop off and pick up section? While you at it why not a 3 level parking structure so you can actually leave your car in a safe environment.
Boy lots of experts on this topic. AlI I know that something needs to be done, how, when and why, I don’t really know ….. just get it done the place is a mess . We all will pay for it in the end in some shape or form
The airport needs to be TWO LEVELS – Upper Level for Departures and Lower Level for Arrivals. Instead of spanning 207,000 square feet across one foot print – the building can be situated on a 100,000 sqft floor plan. Also the JETWAY’S can be installed AND THEY ARE A NECESSITY. Finally a LONGER RUN WAY is critical as is a parallel taxi way.
Clearly you have no idea what you are talking about! I suggest you do some resarch first before being a troll!
Another expert! Over 90% of our tourism comes from the U.S. market, and we have not even scratched the surface of that market in terms of gateways. No runway extension needed for US routes. There is no guarantee that EU flights will come just because you build a longer runway. Regarding jetways being a “necessity”, we live in a beautiful tropical climate, embrace it. If it’s raining, find an umbrella.
Not to mention that the EURO is fast on it’s way to becoming worth less that $1 USD and the Pound is moving in the same direction. Add on the extra 20% the Cayman Dollar is pegged to the USD anyone involved in Cayman Tourism, whether Government of Private, will be incredible foolish to market to or expect significant numbers of visitors from the EURO region in the coming years. It would be the double whammy for Government to waste money on extended runways for one or two flights a week that could go unused for 3,5 or 10 years minimum, then also get negligible percentages of visitors from the EURO region that will only be coming on Jets that will be using the current length runway anyway. Get ready for the Yanks because they are coming.
Interesting comments so far. Some people wish to wave at passengers. Some want to jetways so the passengers cannot be seen but it is easy. Ever been through Dallas in the summer when these “tubes” are like ovens?
I have been to many airports which do not have jetways. Even in Hawaii (The Big Island) with millions of tourists a year they do not have them and they have outdoor check-in areas and baggage collection. That is under cover but no sides so no A/C.
I am fine with not having these extra costs at this time. Maybe our children can add them on one day.
Well, this entire project needs to be re-evaluated. Tons of glass is this building is not wise (we live in hurricane alley and the heat factor from the sun is 100% every day. Cost lots money to air condition this building.)
Plus no jetways or jet ramps must be part of this master plan. Yes it cost but visitors expect this. Tourist complains about walking in the rain to the plane. Plus if someone has a difficult time walking up or down the steps to get into the plane, then people are standing in the rain.
As far as the waving galley? This needs to go. The very few people I see use it, it’s a waste of space.
Lots of people use it. One of the nice things about arriving in Cayman is that its not another faceless airport. Why do you need walkways in a climate like ours. Its an unnecessary expense at a time when money is in short supply. I say expand the airport but please keep its quintessentially Cayman feel.
I don’t think the lack of airbridges, jetways or whatever else you want to call them is a huge issue. In the UK neither London City Airport nor London Luton Airport have them. I’ve also been through major airports in Germany with walk out gates like the ones ORIA currently has. Even Heathrow T5 has remote stands accessed by buses.
Bottom line is that jetbridges are expensive, complicated (as in needing skilled maintenance and operation) and if they go tech on you the whole gate gets shut down and nothing moves. It’s a decision that’s very difficult to find fault with.
RIP Jim Scott, we miss you. A brilliant Project Manager whose expertise would have been invaluable to the timely and efficient completion of this project. Without his watchful eye I fear for the outcome as it will now most likely exceed the budget.
I do not mind not being protected by the A/C when I come off the plane. I actually like that hot air slamming me in the face to let me know I’m home! However, I am fully capable of walking down the steps. Not everyone is.
My concern is that there is only a teeny tiny slice of cover to protect against rain and sun at the drop off/pick up point out front. NONE across the front. What are they thinking?? NO SHADE. All of that glass is a perfect solar panel to heat up the inside. NO consideration for solar power. Looks very inefficient but we sacrifice eco friendly for beauty.
This is 2015 people!!! How are we not using solar energy for new builds????
Remember the contract PPM gave CUC some years back? If government goes solar with such a big building, then CUC will not make the profit they were promised in that contract. If they do go solar then government has no excuse to not be using solar power on all its other buildings.
There is no “promised profit” in the current CUC contract. Quit spreading un-truths.
It’s like having a Rolls Royce but not being able to afford the petrol…when will this place learn that if you are going to do something, then do it once and do it properly and employ professionals who can bring the job in on time and on budget.
Fur coat no knickers
Wow, 12:14! Is that on DVD? I like the sound of it. Who stars in it?
I don’t buy the security concerns over the waving gallery. I can agree that they would possibly need to have it enclosed with a glass wall rather than being open but I think they could still have incorporated a gallery into the design. Another option would be to have it open air but to have security fences around the part below, that would be just as secure as the little fence around the rest of the airport…
Guns abound in West bay…what if one of those whackos decides to” greet ” a returning gang rival with a salvo of slugs when innocents might just be in the way…certain terrorists would aim at the innocents in their sick minds…
They can easily jump the fence or come in by boat or just get someone who works there to do the deed. Lets not pretend any other part of the airport is high security.
You’re absolutely right. Not so long ago members of staff were caught coming through the fence in the Palm Dale Ave area and cutting across the runway to get to work – bet no one told you about that CNS!
Or worse, poor project management could allow contractors and suppliers/service providers to clean-up! Wonder who will oversee that aspect? RIP Jim Scott.
Amazing? What morons!? No longer runway, but instead of just adding ON (where the VIP politician parking lot is….) we have to create another High School type $$$ spend so our crooked cronies can get more contracts? How can the sheep voters keep allowing such waste while our literacy rates fall and the dump is a 40 year problem? I’m sorry but after 25 years here and my status I finally think we have gone banana republic beyond repair and have lost all faith in our people to have ANY common sense. When a former leader is held up and celebrates gambling, we should hold our heads in shame, when the dump smells so bad and burns we have to close schools, we should hang our heads in shame, our leaders have failed us and proven crooked cronies beyond redemption so let God judge them.
Get your facts straight. Literacy rates have not fallen they have increased. One of the few things that is working on the island is the literacy and mathematics strategy. You are misinformed sir and harking back to a time when actually the educational system was abysmal.
We all know that no matter what the proposed budget is going to be, it will be exceeded by more than 500% by the time the airport is finished cause every cat and dog is going to try and make a killing off this project!
CIAA cash estimate includes a $10mln receivable from Cayman Airways (accrued from quite a long period of unpaid $13 CIAA passenger fees). Where do we suppose that $10mln will magically come from (already 20% of this redevelopment budget)?