Jamaica ended 2025 with 524,000 fewer passengers, marking the largest annual decline since the pandemic, as Hurricane Melissa battered the island’s tourism sector.
“Montego Bay and Kingston recorded decreases … as a result of disruptions caused by Hurricane Melissa,” according to a report from the Pacific Airport Group (GAP), which operates the island’s two largest airports.
Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay closed the year with 4.47 million passengers, down 11.6 per cent from 2024, a drop of 588,000 travellers. Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, by contrast, reported 1.84 million passengers, up 3.6 per cent year-on-year, or 64,000 more travellers. Combined, the two airports netted a decline of 524,000.
The setback followed steady improvement after Hurricane Beryl in 2024, but Melissa’s strike last October reversed gains.
Montego Bay traffic had already slipped 3.0 per cent in 2024, while Kingston rose 1.0 per cent despite Beryl. During the height of the pandemic in 2020, Montego Bay’s traffic plunged 66 per cent, though Kingston’s figures were skewed by the timing of GAP’s takeover of the airport.
GAP, which manages 12 airports in Mexico and two in Jamaica, said its overall portfolio recorded a 0.1 per cent increase in December traffic year-on-year. Jamaica’s downturn, however, underscored the island’s vulnerability to external shocks. Melissa damaged hotels and disrupted tour operations, leading to widespread cancellations. Tourism arrivals are the backbone of Jamaica’s services economy, and Kingston’s reliance on business travel and returning residents was insufficient to offset the collapse in leisure arrivals.
GAP has previously warned that Jamaica’s aviation sector may remain under pressure in the first quarter of 2026, with recovery hinging on hotel repairs and the restoration of tour operations. The Financial Gleaner did not immediately get a response to queries sent to the local operators of both airports. The paper also sent queries to Express Catering Ltd, which operates all the food and beverage outlets within the check-in terminals at Sangster.
December traffic highlighted the severity of the disruption with 210,100 fewer passengers. Specifically Montego Bay handled 262,600 passengers, down from 467,500 a year earlier, while Kingston reported 172,300 passengers, down from 177,500. Sangster added flights from Quebec on WestJet, Toronto on Flair, and Bogotá on Wingo, but the new routes were insufficient to offset the losses.
GAP manages Kingston and Montego Bay airports, while the Government oversees Ian Fleming International Airport in St Mary, which serves resorts in neighbouring St Ann. Data for Ian Fleming was not immediately available, leaving the national picture incomplete.
The Planning Institute of Jamaica estimated that before Melissa struck, the country registered 535,643 stopover arrivals in July and August 2025, a 7.0 per cent increase year-on-year, generating US$786.8 million in earnings, up 10.1 per cent.
