Barbados’ Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA) has opened bidding for private investment alongside over $44 million in runway and digitization upgrades.

Barbados’ main gateway, Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA), is seeking to set a major precedent for investment on the Caribbean island. Through new plans to open up bidding for the airport to enter into a public-private partnership (PPP), the Barbadian government will partner with a private sector company (yet to be determined) to operate and expand the airport. It promises to become the island’s most visible foray into the PPP investment model.

The announcement to launch PPP bids comes as the airport is undertaking major upgrades. Its runway will be repaved for approximately $45 million, a project that comes on the heels of a major investment to introduce modern service technology, including automated passport control kiosks, which placed GAIA ahead of the regional curve.

“We were one of the first in the Caribbean to introduce that technology, and the first Caribbean nation to completely do away with landing card forms,” announces Terry Layne, CEO of GAIA. Such efforts only promise to increase Barbados’ appeal as a tourism destination, as new flights from Lufthansa make the island more accessible than ever to German visitors.