Who will manage the Argyle International Airport?

A decision as to how the international airport at Argyle will be managed is expected to be made soon.{{more}}

Dr Rudy Matthias, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the International Airport Development Company (IADC), explained that among the many options being explored was whether the new airport will be state-run or privatised.

“We need to take this issue to Cabinet for Cabinet to consider our proposals and to make some final decisions,” he told SEARCHLIGHT.

“We are in the process of thinking through and discussing and we are going to, hopefully over the next few months, come up with a decision as to how the airport will be managed,” Matthias continued.

Glen Beache, Chief Executive Officer for the St Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Authority, was quoted in the publication ‘Airport World’ on February 21 as saying that the government was expected to make a decision within the next two months whether it was going to privatise the operation of the airport.

But Matthias said that while a decision could come within the next two months, the process could take much longer than that and he was not prepared to put a definite time.

Beache, while attending 5th Routes Americas Conference in the Bahamas from February 19 to 21, said that he supported the idea of privatising the operation of the airport which is expected to be completed in December 2013.

“If you have someone who is experienced in this sort of management, it helps you to attract the airlines. They have the network to attract international carriers. We have to take this into consideration,” he said in the ‘Airport World’ article.

“The operators of Grantley Adams International Airport are doing a good job. The Portuguese also have a lot of good examples out there. It is a matter of choosing the right one,” Beache said. (DD)