Ogle airport expenditure rose 42.5% last year, revenue up 15.6%

Ogle Airport Inc (OAI) saw its expenditure rise by 42.5% last year over the previous year while revenue rose by 15.6%.

The figures were contained in CEO’s Anthony Mekdeci’s report to OAI’s Annual General Meeting on Thursday.

airportMekdeci’s report said that total expenditure for 2014 was $248.9m compared with $174.6m in 2013. He attributed the rise in expenditure to the servicing of the Code 3 C Airport, security, maintenance and utilities etc.

Total revenue for 2014 was $234.7m compared with $202.8m in 2013.

The total number of domestic passengers declined from 79,259 in 2013 to 78,649 last year. The number of international passengers rose from 10,900 in 2013 to 21,840 last year mainly as a result of the LIAT ATR 72 operations.

He said that last year there were 16,587 domestic landings, a slight increase of 409 landings compared to 2013. There were 1,087 international landings last year, an increase of 251. The total domestic cargo carried was 17, 008, 201 lbs compared to 16,038,020 in 2013. International cargo rose from 128,646 lbs to 132,457 lbs.

Mekdeci described 2014 as another great year for OAI.

He said that after 13 years of continuous development there were successful inspection approvals from Trinidad and Tobago, the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authorities and the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority.

This, he noted, led to the airport’s approval for Code 3 C operations on the 24th of January, 2014.

He noted that there was one on-airfield accident involving a locally registered aircraft 8R-MML, destined for Kato which crashed off the shoulder while attempting takeoff. There were no fatalities but the aircraft was severely damaged, he said.