Lynden Pindling International Airport, Bahamas

Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) is the largest airport in the Bahamas. Located 19km from Nassau. LPIA is one of the busiest airports in the Caribbean. In 2008, it handled 3.2 million passengers, and in July 2009, the airport unveiled a major expansion programme to handle the increasing traffic. Costing $409.5m, the three-phase expansion is scheduled for completion in 2013. It will enable the airport to serve 5.2 million passengers by 2020 and will handle the Airbus A-380.

Expansion

The expansion will happen in phases. Phase one began in July 2009 and includes the construction of a 247,000ft2 terminal and a pier for US departures. The terminal will be equipped with 55 check-in counters. An inline explosive detection system capable of handling 1,800 bags an hour will be installed along with a bag-weight imaging system and automated baggage sortation. The baggage sortation system will feature three make-up carousels.

Besides the terminal building, phase one will include the construction of a one million square foot apron and additional parking facilities and roadways.

Phase two, which will be completed in 2012, will include the partial demolition of the existing US departures terminal. During this phase, two new terminals, one for international arrivals and departures, will be constructed. The terminal for international arrivals will feature three inbound baggage claim systems.

The final stage of the expansion project will be undertaken in phase three. Scheduled for completion in 2013, the last phase will add a departures terminal for domestic and international passengers and a terminal exclusively for domestic arrivals. The international and domestic terminal will feature 42 check-in counters. It will also be equipped with 200ft of baggage handling, security and sortation systems equipment.

The design will create a total terminal area of nearly 585,000ft2. The expansion will include ten gates capable of handling a jet-bridge, four gates to handle a Boeing 747-size aircraft and one gate for an Airbus A-380.

Contractors

The contract for the airport's phase-one expansion was awarded to Canadian-based Ledcor Group.

The airport's baggage handling, sortation and explosive detection system will be supplied by Glidepath.

The contract to provide fully integrated systems to Lynden Pindling Airport is valued at $21m.

Lynden Pindling

Lynden Pindling International Airport was originally known as Nassau International Airport. The airport was renamed on July 2006 after the Bahamas' first Prime Minister, Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling. Owned by the government and operated by Nassau Airport Development (NAD), the airport handles large volumes of flights to and from the US. It is equipped with US border pre-clearance facilities, enabling US flights to operate as domestic arrivals.

Since NAD took over the operations in 2007, the airport has undergone more than $11m-worth of upgrades.

Terminals and runways

The airport has two terminals. The terminals handle daily and weekly flights from Florida, New York, Philadelphia, Toronto and Montreal. Excluding US flights, terminal one serves chartered, domestic and international flights. The US flights are handled by terminal two, which also serves domestic flights. Both terminals have a single runway. The terminal area is close to both long-time and short-time parking areas.

The airport has two runways. The first runway of direction 14/32 measures 3,358m in length, while the second 09/27 runway measures 2,537m.

Other facilities at the airport include a cafe, duty free outlets, several shops and a branch of the Royal Bank of Canada. At present, the airport does not have any business or conference facilities.