J$3.2Bn Sangster Repair After Hurricane Melissa

  • The October 2025 hit from Hurricane Melissa translated into a multi-billion-dollar repair for Sangster International Airport (SIA), with Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico[2] (GAP), SIA’s parent company, flagging roughly US$20Mn (roughly J$3.2Bn) in repair costs tied to storm damage across terminal infrastructure, equipment, and operational areas.
  • GAP in its 2025 Annual Report (20-F filing) framed the damage as operationally disruptive but not structurally threatening, noting that while parts of the airport required repairs and temporary closures, overall business continuity was preserved and operations resumed relatively quickly.
  • A key financial cushion comes from extensive insurance coverage, with GAP indicating that the bulk of repair and replacement costs should be recovered in 2026 under existing property damage and business interruption policies. SIA has a US$353Mn insurance policy for property damage and business interruption, with a sub-limit of US$100Mn for catastrophic risks. There is also a US$750Mn annual policy covering personal injury and property damage to third parties. The scale of the insurance package reflects the significance of the airport, which handles more than 70% of tourist arrivals into Jamaica.
  • That said, the more immediate hit showed up in traffic and demand trends, with passenger volumes contracting sharply in the fourth quarter of 2025 (Q4 2025) by 46.1% and remaining under pressure into early 2026 as tourism-linked capacity across Jamaica lagged recovery. The full year saw an 11.6% reduction in traffic to 4.47 million passengers passing through SIA. Nonetheless, the airport remained the third-busiest for GAP in the Caribbean region, excluding Cuba.
  • MBJ Airports Limited still delivered positive earnings, but top-line and profitability metrics softened, reflecting weaker passenger throughput and reduced contributions from both airline activity and commercial concessions. Aeronautical revenue from both local airlines amounted to MXN$1.81BnMn (-3.3%), while Non-aeronautical services brought in MXN$848.88Mn (2.7%). Nevertheless, Profit before tax dipped 3%, with net profit down 2% to MXN$541.94Mn in 2025. MBJ paid US$44.2Mn as concession taxes to the Airport Authorities of Jamaica (AAJ).
  • Importantly, GAP signalled no pullback in long-term investment plans, keeping over US$100Mn in capital projects on track through 2030, positioning the repair spend as a short-term setback within a broader expansion and modernisation cycle.

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1 The company’s wholly owned Spanish subsidiary, DCA, holds a 74.5% stake in MBJA, the concessionaire responsible for operating, maintaining, and developing Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica for a term of 30 years beginning on April 12, 2003.

(Sources: GAP & Jamaica Observer)