Barbados Means Business with Big Airport Upgrade

One highlight of the $120 Airport Expansion Program for Barbados' Grantley Adams International Airport is the terminal's new tent-shaped membrane roof, which helps save energy during daylight hours by letting in lots of light. The roof is similar in look and style to the acclaimed roof at Denver International Airport. Credit: Grantley Adams International Airport Inc.

Underestimate Grantley Adams International Airport at your peril — it may be located in Barbados in the sunny Caribbean, but it is no backwater and has ambitions to grow that put some of its bigger rivals to shame.

It is undeniably hard to think of much more than sun, sand and palm tree-lined beaches when you first think of Barbados, the tiny 166-square-mile (430-square-kilometer) island nation on the tip of South America in the southern Caribbean.

The image is further cemented by the fact that its closest island neighbours are Saint Vincent and Saint Lucia to the west, and Trinidad and Tobago to the south.

And those in any doubt about it being ‘laid back’ only have to visit the website totallybarbados.com and look who it lists as famous Barbadians to confirm the stereotype. For it lists just four names — world-famous former cricketer Sir Garfield Sobers, R&B singer Rihanna, musician Rupee and Irving Burgie, who in addition to penning the Barbados National Anthem, composed 'Day-O', possibly the song most commonly associated with the Caribbean to this very day.

King of Calypso Harry Belafonte may have found fame for singing it in 1956, but Irving, who was actually born in New York though his mother was from Barbados, was the man behind the global hit and a string of others over the years.

But scratch the surface and you’ll find a very different Barbados today, reports Airport World. The country has one of the highest standards of living and literacy rates in the world, for example.

And Barbados’ human development index ranking is consistently among the top 50 in the world — its 31st position in 2006 ensuring that it finished third in the Americas after Canada and the United States.

So, in the circumstances then, it should come as no surprise to anyone to learn that the island’s only gateway, Grantley Adams International Airport, aims to be one of the most modern and best equipped in the region.

Grantley Adams' Airport Expansion Program

Indeed such ambition proved the catalyst for its recently completed $120 million Airport Expansion Program (AEP) — the first major development at the airport since 1980 — which has added a new 70,000-square-feet Arrivals complex and a host of other new facilities.

The newly constructed Arrivals building has allowed the airport authority to convert the old terminal into a departures complex with a large, customer friendly retail area.

In addition to the Arrivals facility, which technically means that the airport now boasts a 270,000-square-feet terminal, key elements of the AEP include a new retail mall, departure lounge and departure hall.

The check-in area has also undergone a major facelift and been equipped with new Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) technology.

Elsewhere the gateway’s airfield has been renovated and upgraded to ensure that it is capable of simultaneously accommodating up to 22 narrow- and wide-body aircraft.

A new apron also means that the gateway, which handled 2.1 million passengers in 2007, now has sufficient positions for the double and triple parking of regional carriers.

And 100-percent-government-owned airport authority, Grantley Adams International Airport Inc., has moved into a new administrative building.

Immigration processing space in the new-look terminal has increased by 50 percent while the airport’s new baggage claim area is almost twice the size of the one it replaced — each of its five large carousels theoretically capable of handling a wide-body jet every 20 minutes.

The new airport terminal has three times the amount of shopping and a variety of new eateries that include a restaurant, bar and gourmet coffee located in a new landside courtyard.

It is the airport’s new tent shaped membrane roof, however, that has caught the eye as it is similar in look and style to the much acclaimed and very distinctive roof at Denver International Airport.

'Translucent tents' good for environment

Indeed these ‘translucent tents’ are good for the environment too, according to architect, airport planner and AEP project manager, Jacobs Consultancy, as they allow the natural lighting to filter into the terminal during the day helping to reduce energy costs.

Illuminated from within at night, they also provide a memorable view at night, says Toronto-based designer, Queens Quay Architects International.

Airport CEO, Leon Romero, is certainly an admirer. “It is one of the beautiful and outstanding aspects of our bright, modern gateway in which Barbadians can take pride,” he enthused.

“The airport has had good customer service reviews since the terminal opened, but we aren't satisfied yet. You can never rest on your laurels as there are always improvements to be made. We’re constantly assessing our performance,” said Romero.

The design feature highlights the island's determination to cement and highlight its position as a main hub between North and South America and a must-visit destination for visitors from Europe.

High-end tourism hub

In fact the AEP is a serious effort to make the airport the hub for high-end tourism to the Caribbean and, as such, Barbados is actively looking to expand its regional and long-haul route network.

The Open Skies philosophy of the Barbados Government already ensures that a handful of North American scheduled carriers serve the island as well a host of European airlines and charter carriers.

They include British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Condor, Air Jamaica, Caribbean Airways, American Airlines, US Airways, Delta Air Lines and Air Canada.

Added Romero: “With the help of the tourism authorities, which do a very good job of marketing and promoting the airport, we are now in a position to really move forward and establish Barbados as the most attractive and convenient hub to the Caribbean.”

That doesn’t sound like laid-back talk, does it?

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