Passenger Arrivals Splits as Montego Bay Faces Sustained Decline

• Passenger traffic across Global Airport Partners’ (GAP) Jamaican operations showed a pronounced divergence, with Kingston delivering modest year on year growth while Montego Bay recorded a sharp contraction. The contrasting performance highlights continued weakness in Jamaica’s tourism-driven air traffic, particularly at Sangster International, which experienced the steepest decline across GAP’s 12 airports in Mexico plus two in Jamaica, during the month.
• At Kingston’s Norman Manley International Airport, passenger traffic increased 2.8% year-over-year to 205,100 in August, driven by a 3.0% rise in international passengers. Overall, International travel continued to account for virtually all airport traffic, with domestic activity remaining negligible
• Montego Bay’s Sangster International Airport, by contrast, saw total passenger traffic plunge 23.0% year-on-year to 344,600 passengers. Given the airport’s near-exclusive reliance on international traffic, the 23.0% decline in international passengers closely mirrored the overall contraction, pointing to continued softness in inbound tourism and/or capacity from key source markets.
• The divergence becomes more pronounced on a year-to-date basis. For January–August 2026, Kingston’s passenger traffic declined a relatively modest 1.5% to 1.25 million, while Montego Bay recorded a much steeper 26.2% contraction to 2.63 million passengers. The weakness at Sangster is not simply a one-month disruption but part of a sustained trend since the passage of Melissa.
• Despite the contraction, Montego Bay remains significantly larger than Kingston, handling roughly twice the passenger traffic both in August and year-to-date. As a result, the sharp decline at Sangster more than outweighed Kingston’s modest growth and pulled the Jamaican operations lower overall. This contrasted with the broader GAP network, where total passenger traffic increased 0.5% in August, including 2.6% growth across its 12 Mexican airports. Jamaica therefore remained a notable drag on the group’s overall traffic performance.
• Looking ahead, a gradual improvement is expected throughout the remainder of the year, but there are risks. As tourism activity normalises and the industry continues to recover from the impact of Hurricane Melissa, the outlook for Jamaica’s tourism sector remains positive. More than 1,900 hotel rooms are expected to return to the market in December alone, while over 11,000 rooms are projected to reopen between 2026 and 2027.
• The phased return of this capacity should support the sector’s recovery, strengthen accommodation availability, and position Jamaica to accommodate further growth in visitor arrivals. However, near-term risks remain, particularly from the escalation of conflict in the Middle East, which has pushed jet fuel prices higher and has been passed on to consumers through increased airfares. This could weigh on travel demand, with industry indicators already pointing to the potential for softer tourism performance later in the year.

 (Sources: Grupo Aeroportuario Del Pacifico & NCBCM Research)