CIAA seeks designers for first phase of general terminal
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Airport Authority has begun the procurement process for designers to draw up plans for the controversial proposed upgrades to the external areas of the General Aviation Terminal at Owen Roberts International Airport. An invitation to designers has been placed on the government procurement site looking for consultants to work on the parking apron, heliport and a marine dock adjacent to the existing easterly apron and the North Sound. This is Phase 1 of the CI$42 million project that will include a new terminal building in Phase 2 and an aircraft hanger in Phase 3.
The proposed project stirred up controversy in the community as this terminal is rarely used by Caymanians or most tourists. It caters to private jets only with their very wealthy owners and passengers, and it has been hard to identify from the outline business case the justification for the project, which Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan said was to attract more high-net-worth people to the Cayman Islands.
Meanwhile, overcrowding during peak periods at the recently developed regular terminal remains a hassle for the vast majority of air passengers, and many believe the focus should be on this and incorporating jetways.
The Department of Environment indicated in a scoping opinion that an environmental impact assessment is not necessary for this project. However, the CIAA should consider replacing at least 1.5 acres of mangrove buffer along the airport’s North Sound shoreline to mitigate the loss of another three acres of mangroves that will be sacrificed for this facility.
The DoE also noted that the project appears completely disconnected from Cayman’s policy in relation to greenhouse gas emissions, given that expanding this terminal would inevitably lead to more private jets coming to Cayman, which are greater polluters per capita than modern commercial aircraft.
This will raise questions of inequities, given that the National Energy Policy has new targets for cutting emissions across all three islands. If more jets and vehicle activity at this new terminal creates more greenhouse gases, then other sectors of the community will have to further reduce their emissions to compensate.
“Given that the General Aviation Terminal is only used by a small proportion of the population of Cayman there is likely an equalities issue,” the DoE stated. “The majority of the population is being affected by climate change, but only a small number will use the new facilities or be responsible for the increase in emissions.”
The department has also warned that the design of this project, given its proximity to the shoreline, will need to consider the inevitable impacts, even in the short term, of sea level rise in Cayman and the issue of storm surge and flooding.
The project consists of the construction of an approximate 70,000m² flexible and non-flexible aircraft parking apron, an approximate 10,500m² heliport apron and a small marine dock with a seawall. The apron will consist of a connection to the existing taxiways G and H. The design scope will include all access roads, underground utilities and necessary external works required, as outlined in the conceptual design included in the CIAA 2041 Master Plan.
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Category: Local News, Politics, Travel
13/2 @ 3.21pm – the airlines which serve ORIA do not want jet bridges because they don’t want to pay for their use. Why? Our national airline won’t pay and the other airlines say “if they don’t, then we won’t.”
CIAA cannot afford to provide and operate jet bridges, if the airlines won’t pay.
What we need more than anything are Passenger Boarding Bridges. We are living in the past and the Turks and Caicos has overtaken us in this regard. Send someone up there to see how it is done.
May as well borrow more money for this and the new court house before we finally go bust and introduce taxation.
Meanwhile the same educational system all our BoBo MLS came through is in the sh*t hole, crime is on the rise, roads aren’t finished, driving education is nil, no sidewalks, and Cocaine Kenny’s restaurant & park have not been built.
Cocaine Kenny could not envision anything that doesn’t involve speeding money.
IF a new GA Terminal and apron are needed then move the entrance to the park to Airport post office parking lot and seize the dirt road to MRCU and relocate MRCU hanger there and plenty of room will be left for expanding the apron.
Kenny knows that rich people will need maids and yard boys. So Kenny is pretending that he’s providing jobs for his uneducated unskilled supporters.,
God forbid he should spend money on educating them to drag them out of the ghetto cess pits they live in.
Keeping them down there assures him and his kind of politician generations of supporters, because he knows they are the only ones who will vote for him, Mac , Saunders and Seymour.
Beware of Kenny bearing gifts.
What bollocks! The minister of tourism & the civil service have lost the plot.
Just Another Day in Absurdistan
Hey Kenny, why not spend the money on education and upgrading the lives of all your NAU dependents.
Having spoken with a manager at the airport it seems like the real need is for a larger apron for private aircraft. That is, more aircraft parking space. That can be seen on a drive by the current General Aviation Terminal most days.
Could that not be achieved by expanding the present apron for a lot less dollars? Is there no additional space? What about all along the fence towards the west (Fosters)?
This “project” smells strongly of some persons wanting a fancier place for themselves to arrive to & depart from. Plus a dock to commute from/to their residences. Add in the “important” MP’s who like private travel, then maybe we have the basic outline business case. Convincing shallow MP’s of “benefits to the country” was the easy part.
Not surprised, Ken Ken loves rich white guys!
“Clients”
Kenneth loves himself more.
There goes the new prison build then?
We only been waiting 3 years since they agreed to build it though lol
And the much needed new court house.
Don’t need a new prison.
I’m so sorry our criminals find it uncomfortable , but if you can’t do the time as they say, then don’t effing commit the crime.
There’s got to be some deterrent to crime, and an uncomfortable prison is one of them.
Agree. Let the prisoners live in non air conditioned tents.
Maybe the recidivism will decrease with significantly harsher prison conditions.
That worked in Texas 11.14.
The only person who will benefit from the new prison is the local consultant pushing for his millions, yes Millions in fees .
New prison? How about we start with the mental health facility, when’s that opening?
Totally unnecessary!!
Firstly, CIAA rejected a private proposal to upgrade the present GAT some years ago.
Secondly, people (especially high net worth) do not like to spend much time in ANY terminal. I cater to private aircraft passengers, and I’ve heard none complain about the present GAT. The present building can be refreshed and made fit-for-purpose, especially as the Weather Dept, is set to move out after it’s mega-million HQ is completed.
Thirdly, just because this was an option, of many, in an edition of the Airport Development Plan (it was), doesn’t make it viable or compulsory!!
Just get some or at least one bridge to reach the planes! Please. Getting wet and walking down slippery outdated walkways and just not good enough.
“Bridges” presuppose aircraft boarding from an upper level.
Can’t do that from ground level of current sensing.
Not true. Sawyer Intl, Southbend Intl amongst others use ramped jetways to board into smaller aircraft – namely the Saab and E145s. It is possible and was presented as an option once. It simply was deemed not needed, which of course as we know was also incorrect.
This moron again! this is what we get when the voting system is a popularity contest. Spend the money on the new courthouse that’s required or one of the other many pressing meaningful needs for our people.
And a larger prison so that they don’t have to keep giving bail to serious criminals and pedophiles that jump bail.
Build them a warehouse metal structure then.
Why should public funds be spent on housing criminals , especially Jamaicans who find Cayman to be a safe zone for rich pickings.?
Cause it would be safer for us law abiding citizen.
Us law abiding people would just be shooting ourselves in the foot by inviting more criminal activity from those who know they’ll get a slap on the wrist and comfortable
accommodations….no problem Mon.
Build the means for people to come to the island…. simultaneously destroy/remove/pave over the reason people come to the islands.
When capital projects are completed, we are paying the bill over XX amount of years and then the gravy train stops.. I wonder what will become of it. We can’t break down the buildings and re-use the concrete (or maybe you can I’m actually not too sure about it). Either way, the point is that this “line must go up” mentality has everyone who makes decisions on a one tracked mind and living in the short term. “If I can get this project passed, then I will get XXXX amount of dollars and the GDP will be high which will make me look good. I won’t do this thing because I won’t benefit fast enough”.
This is what the current political mind thinks about. IF they even think at all.
rising poverty rate, rising crime rate, failing medical system and an infrastructure system that cant keep up with the rising population… But no, we NEED a new private jet terminal with yacht dock.
What a complete waste of money. There is no need for this at all.
Counterpoint:
https://periodismoinvestigativo.com/2022/01/cayman-foreign-investors-identity-crisis/
As a Caymanian voter, I can tell you I am ANGRY about this. So much money being spent to benefit just a few people. AND you are planning to charge passengers arriving at the main terminal for this expansion to the private jet terminal. In what world does this make sense.
By all means, if you want to do this big expansion of the private jet terminal and then fund it from each private jet arriving then fill your boots. But don’t charge a fee on my ticket arriving into the main terminal. Does everyone realize that is what the plan is? To add a fee to every ticket for every flight to fund just the private jet terminal.
Kenny has straw for brains if he thinks a new general aviation terminal will attract high net worth individuals to come to Cayman. All any traveler wants are two things, on time departure and on time arrival. Nobody wants to spend anymore time in an airport terminal than they absolutely need to. If you want a new GA terminal I suggest you bid out the rights for the terminal to one of the major fixed based operators like Signature let them design it and lease it back. This is classic Cayman fire, ready, aim. 🤡🤡🤡
What next, a golf course at the airport. When you have s#$t for brains and want to leave a legacy when you got nothing else. This is robbery to the tax payers!
Since when did anyone choose a vacation spot based on how fancy the GA terminal is?
42 mil and not one additional parking spot mentioned?!
Look, just hire a chaffeur and all is good
This 42mil is for the private jet terminal only. Nothing for the regular main terminal.
“Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan said was to attract more high-net-worth people to the Cayman Islands.”
Simple question. Of what benefit is it to the most of us to attract such people?
Menial income jobs to cater to them
Exactly. The crumbs, reward for having paid for the whole pie. That is why I asked the question.
Don’t hold your breath.
None of Kenny’s many self serving schemes have started….only the Barbados waste of money to get him and friends a comfortable first class ride to “meetings” with attendant 5 star expenses.
What do the people get out of this, other than paying for it.
Remember Ivan…four feet of water went through the airport.
All well and good for Kenneths ambitions butt I have spotted a small flaw…The parking lot is not currently fit for purpose and is maxed out every weekend. I almost missed a flight last weekend because I was told there was no space in long term. The security guard was of no help and suggested I find a side road in the back of the parking lot and leave my vehicle there for a week. It is total chaos trying to park there and it is counter productive to increase the size of the airport, increase the volume of travellers and not think about PARKING!!!
This is for the private jet terminal. Nothing to do with the main terminal where the parking woes exist.
So that makes this even crazier! $42M for a terminal used by just a few people and we normal people can’t even get a parking spot at the main terminal.
Don’t you get it? This “plan” is not for you or me or any of the other great unwashed. When you can afford to dock your yacht and walk to the new terminal, or land your plane, then and only then will the plan be for you.
Let us eat cake.
Hmmm. After careful consideration, it should be in the shape of a giant pair of testicles. This modern masterpiece will fully encapsulate the feeling it will be the biggest balls up since the last white elephant this territory spewed out.
what was the final account figure for the last airport expansion?????
Before or after it flooded?
11:18, Nobody knows but a tiny handful of people feeding at the trough.
It is a state secret and you have no right to know.
We don’t do accountability here.
The common tourist should not pay for this!
Hello?! What about the car park? It can’t even make it through a weekend without being maxed out.
Parking is now a major problem at the airport. It is often impossible to find a place to park on weekends. So friggin shortsighted.
You build a so called new airport, but forget about future parking needs. I visited the new Bermuda Airport last year and they seem to have it all figured out.
Suggest the Caymanian airport management board go to Bermuda and see how it is done as we need to put on our thinkers cap.
Thinking cap? dude, just build a Multistorey car park. This isn’t even basic math let alone rocket science. Christ.
Stop the taxi cartel ripoffs and I won’t drive to park my car for $7 a day. It’s simple, if it costs me $60 to take a taxi both ways and I am going away for a week, I’ll save the $11 every time.
The taxi ripoffs will never end as our esteemed legend in his own mind needs their votes.
Should have gone with the Canadian master proposal that was presented 10 years ago. Today Bermuda has a magnificent airport good for 25 years but we are still kibbitzing around with our dinky airport which is a pain on weekends in the high season like now.
So short sighted on our part.
Approved without a design…sounds about right.
Equalities issue is not just environmental. The project is supposedly going to be paid for by people who use the commercial terminal. If that doesn’t raise enough I guess the airport foots the shortfall, and in turn is covered by additional government subsidy paid for by all tax payers. The people actually using the new shiny terminal apparently don’t pay anything.
Make the people who use the new terminal pay for it. Simple as that. No CIG subsidy.
Believe me they can afford the charge and fees.
Where does Island Air fit in to all this..?
What will happen to Island air once the terminal is built..?
Where does Island Air fit in to all this..?
What will happen to Island air once the terminal is built..?
Perhaps IA should pay for this as they have so much to gain.
Have they paid their outstanding apron fees yet?
Another private sector board strikes again.
Appointed by whom?
It’s obscene that we are paying for this, when most Caymanians and residents will never use it Spend the money on the main terminal and let the Uber rich pay for their own airport
jokes on them! after the most recent round of inflation boogaloo I’m too poor to travel so HAH, wont see any of my money…