Airport boss: Revenue gap in cargo

Linus Rogers, chairman of the Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago said while the Piarco airport has been expanded to handle passengers, a revenue gap exists for cargo. “Airports basically raise revenues through concessions and plane landings,” he said, noting that cargo is an area to raise revenue to reduce dependency on the consolidated funds. “We need to invest again, not only for the security reasons but also for handling that significant area of cargo as we try to develop the country,” he said.

Rogers, who also spoke at the Tobago conference said, the airports authority is seeking to reduce the dependency on government and is looking at raising additional revenues to become self-sufficient.  While airports in the hemisphere are facing challenges President of the Airport Council, International, for Latin America, Ernesto Gutierrez said the balance sheet for last year gives some hope about the trend for the commercial aviation market which, he said, was on an upward curve. “In addition, our forecasts reveal an average growth of approximately 4.8 per cent for the Latin American and the Caribbean region between 2004-2020,” he said.