Tourist traffic passing through Montego Bay’s Sangster International Airport surged sharply in July with a 15.2 percent jump, the first major increase since early 2024, while Kingston Norman Manley Airport saw a 7.8 percent increase compared to July 2024, Grupo Aeroportuario Del Pacifico, operators of both airports, reported.
Traffic passing through Montego Bay moved from 443,400 last year in July to 510,600, resulting in the year to date performance slipping just 2.2 percent to 3.114 million, from 3.186 million last year. The improvement comes against the backdrop of signs of stability in the June numbers that fell a mere 1.9 percent, 1.6 percent in May and 1.3 percent in April, compared with a year to date decline of 5.1 percent in June, 6.5 percent to April and 8.1 percent to March.
Kingston Norman Manley Airport processed 191,900 incoming and outgoing passengers in July, compared to 178,000 for the same month in 2024. For the first seven months of the year, 1.074 million passengers passed through the country’s capital airport, an increase of 8.5 percent over the 989,800 in 2024.
This development, if sustained, has far-reaching implications for a wide range of the economy. Apart from indicating a pick-up in foreign exchange inflows, companies supplying goods and services to the tourism sector should see an increase in business activities.
Listed companies are set to be big winners, including Caribbean Producers, Express Catering, Dolphin Cove, Jamaica Broilers, Wisynco, Everything Fresh and Knutsford Express .