P.M. says 3 New Airports Coming to Belize

Today, at the twelfth annual North American, Central American and Caribbean Directors of Civil Aviation Meeting, Prime Minister John Briceño, stressed the significance of the aviation industry to the country, stating that fifty-five percent of the country’s G.D.P. comes from tourism, and over fifty percent of tourists travel by air. Considering this, Briceño further explained his goals to expand the industry, both domestically and internationally for Belize. Here’s more on that.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“Aviation is of foremost importance to our tourism industry.  For us in Belize, tourism accounts for fifty-five percent of G.D.P.  More than eighty percent of our tourists who come to Belize will travel to one of our diverse destinations by air. Considering how important aviation is to GDP, And how vital it is to Belize’s economy, our government has declared aviation a priority sector of our country. Our projections for growth in tourism align with ICAO’s projections for growth in the air transport sector. Our overnight projections show a tripling of passengers who utilize the Phillip Goldson International Airport over the next fifteen years. Triple. Three hundred percent. At present, we are in the process of negotiating the development of an aviation master plan and expect that it will result in an all-around improvement of the aviation industry in Belize. The goal of our government, as stated in Plan Belize, our medium-term development plan is to expand the P.G.A., our International Airport, with a U.S. one hundred twenty-five million investment, to a new airport in San Pedro, a national airport next to P.G.A. to handle and to manage local air traffic, and a new airport in here down south in Placencia. All of them to be able to handle larger planes within Belize and who knows, probably handle short regional flights.”