A multi-million-dollar expansion planned
for Owen Roberts Airport in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, will
triple the size of the main terminal facility to 205,000 square
feet and will be done while the airport remains open and
operational, according to Charles Clifford, minister of tourism.
When completed,
the airport will be able to handle up to 1.25 million passengers a
year, up from the current 800,000.
The construction,
which is expected to take up to three years to complete, will be
done in three phases, Clifford said.
Phase one --
expansion of the ticket hall and construction of the domestic
passenger area and the immigration and baggage claim area -- is
expected to be completed by November 2008.
Phase two will
see the construction of the boarding connections, the meetings hall
and the international departures lounge; it is projected to be
finished by August 2009.
In the third and
final phase, the remaining interior spaces will be renovated by
June 2010.
Airport parking
positions for 7373s will increase from eight to 10, and four
passenger gates will feature boarding bridges.
All facilities
will be built to withstand hurricane-force winds.
Preliminary work
already has begun, Clifford said.
An expansion of
the existing airport facility on Little Cayman will take place at
the same time and will include a new runway and a small
terminal.
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to Gay Nagle Myers at [email protected].