Jamaica makes bid for private jet business

(CNS): According to the Jamaican government's informaiton service the newly opened and rebranded Ian Fleming International Airport in St. Mary could become a hub for private jets in the region. Transport minister Mike Henry has said he confident that the airport has the potential to become an important centre for providing aircraft servicing, maintenance and support services to the aeronautical industry. Representatives from Netjets, one of the world's leading aviation firms, toured the spruced up airport’s facilities last week. Henry said operating private jets was the fastest growing segment of the air transport sector.

"I am seeking to interest Netjets to look at this (facility) as an operational point, which relates to the servicing of planes and to base them…The idea is to see what the opportunities are, which fit into the training of people in the whole aeronautical industry and ties in the whole interconnected multimodal plan which we have in place,” explained the minister.

Chief Executive Officer of Netjets, Bill Noe, said that while Netjets was familiar with doing business with the two other and more established international airports in Jamaica, Ian Fleming was relatively unfamiliar. "We've had one operation into Ian Fleming over the past year. Most of our activities are into Montego Bay and Kingston. So, we want to come and look at it and explore the possibilities," he said.