US traffic falls at Sangster as UK, Latin America post gains

WESTERN BUREAU:

International arrivals through Sangster International Airport declined by 23.65 per cent in August against the backdrop of reduced hotel-room inventory across western Jamaica and other challenges confronting the tourism sector.

The Montego Bay airport recorded 166,325 international arrivals, 51,524 fewer than the 217,849 passengers recorded in August 2025.

The decline comes at a time when a significant number of hotel rooms across the western tourism belt remain out of service following Hurricane Melissa.

“The traffic is dependent on the reopening of the hotels that are closed,” commercial director at Sangster, Sharon Hislop-Holt, told The Gleaner.

“Once the hotels open, we will have more traffic. We can’t say how much improvement we will see,” she added.

According to Hislop-Holt, the numbers are nowhere near expectations.

In Montego Bay, Sandals Montego Bay, Sandals Royal Caribbean, and SeaGarden Beach Resort remain closed, along with the Hyatt and Secrets resorts, Catalonia, and MGM Muthu. Sandals South Coast in Westmoreland also remains shuttered.

Royalton recently reopened its Negril resort while its Trelawny properties are expected to reopen on September 15. Only sections of Bahia Principe are currently operating.

Negril, where more of the resort town’s room stock is available, is facing another challenge as hoteliers contend with deplorable road conditions that have considerably lengthened travelling time between Sangster International Airport and the resort town.

The airport figures provide another indication of the distance still to be covered in rebuilding tourism activity in western Jamaica, particularly as the United States (US), its overwhelmingly dominant market, continues to underperform.

Passenger traffic between the US and Sangster fell 28.73 per cent in August, to 245,739, while year-to-date traffic from that market was down 31.25 per cent, at approximately 1.84 million passengers.

MAJOR SOURCE MARKET

Despite the decline, the US remains critical to the airport, accounting for almost 70 per cent of passenger traffic for the first eight months of the year.

Canada, another major source market, also remained below last year’s levels. Canadian passenger traffic fell 22.57 per cent in August to 34,323 and was down 24.8 per cent year to date.

The route-by-route figures show some of the sharpest contractions in the US market.

Fort Lauderdale recorded the largest decline among Sangster’s top 10 routes in August, falling 60.54 per cent, from 49,412 passengers in August 2025 to 19,500 this year.

Traffic through New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, Sangster’s busiest route for the month, fell 27.38 per cent to 45,083 passengers, while Charlotte declined 27.55 per cent, and Orlando was down 26.48 per cent.

Atlanta bucked the trend, increasing 8.79 per cent to 38,532 passengers.

There were, however, bright spots in the August figures, particularly from the United Kingdom (UK) and Latin America.

UK passenger traffic increased 12.12 per cent to 32,980 while Latin America grew 19.8 per cent to 22,106. Traffic from Europe, excluding the UK, edged up 2.08 per cent.

London Heathrow stood out among the airport’s leading routes, recording a 62.54 per cent increase in August, moving from 8,546 passengers last year to 13,891 this year.

Latin America has also emerged as Sangster’s strongest-growing region so far this year, with passenger traffic up 40.01 per cent to 124,988 between January and August.

Overall commercial passenger traffic through Sangster – combining arrivals and departures – stood at 343,755 in August, while the year-to-date figure reached 2.62 million, 25.7 per cent below the corresponding period in 2025.

The airport is expected to receive additional airlift ahead of the winter tourist season, with five new services scheduled to begin in November and December.

Porter Airlines is slated to introduce flights from Toronto and London, Ontario, on November 11; Ottawa on November 25; and Hamilton on December 12. Breeze Airways is scheduled to begin service from Tampa, Florida, on December 19.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com