DEAR....we don’t see the visitors arriving. We don’t see them coming in through our doors right now (Photo: Karl Mclarty)

Express Catering Limited (ECL), the concession operator at Sangster International Airport (SIA) in Montego Bay, is facing severe financial strain after Hurricane Melissa caused a steep decline in passenger traffic at the country’s main tourist hub.

The company, which reported a 50 per cent increase in quarterly profit to US$1.51 million in August, is now preparing for “a challenging year ahead”, according to its chief executive officer, Ian Dear. This sudden reversal follows a catastrophic 73.4 per cent plunge in November passenger numbers at its primary market, SIA, where traffic fell to 99,100 from more than 373,000 a year earlier, in the wake of the hurricane that devastated western Jamaica. The paralysis of its core market has exposed a critical vulnerability in Express Catering’s otherwise successful business model: A high-cost structure wholly reliant on relentless passenger flow.

The airport operator — Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico, S.A.B. de C.V (Pacific Airport Group or GAP) — noted that while air operations had resumed, “the destination’s hotel capacity remains approximately 70 per cent affected, which has limited the recovery in demand”.

“The pace at which tourism infrastructure, particularl