By Linda Straker
Tourism Minister Clarice Modeste has confirmed that Grenada will officially be reopening its international airport on July 1 to commercial passenger traffic.
“The date was agreed to at Monday’s cabinet meeting. We believe that we have done a significant amount of education with the various stakeholder about the new health protocol, and despite the risk, we believe that we are ready to welcome passengers,” Modeste said.
Grenada closed its borders in March as part of measures to contain and control the spread of COVID-19. Since then the Maurice Bishop International Airport (MBIA) has only allowed pre-approved repatriation and select charter flights.
Modeste said that the plan right now is to welcome both international and regional travellers. “We are aware that a number of Grenadians are stuck in foreign lands because of the measures, and so we announced the date so that airlines can start offering the service. We are hoping that many Grenadians will return home.”
The idea now is for all incoming passengers to be screened and quarantined, some with more restrictions than others. “Self-quarantine or shorter quarantine period might be enforced for some, especially returning nationals, while visitors of leisure may be restricted to some places,” she explained.
Modeste also confirmed that all arriving passengers will be screened with the rapid COVID-19 test as part of the screening process.
When asked if the decision to announce the date was because of international airlines demanding to government that services recommence to the island, Modeste said that tourism authorities have had mutual discussions with airlines and never got the impression that a deadline date was required. “They kept up to date with the decision of the islands, especially the decisions that will be affecting the tourism sector. So now that we have given them a date, they can start the necessary arrangement to start marketing the service,” she said.
Grenada