Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
Gorgeous beaches, mouthwatering cuisine, warm locals and the beautiful culture of the Turks and Caicos all pale in comparison to the horror show of the Providenciales/Howard Hamilton International Airport and that opinion is coming directly from visitors.
“Because of the way this experience was handled? Not coming back,” a visitor who was stuck in the airport overnight in March told us, while holding his tired three year old daughter.
Dozens of similar reviews have been shared with the Magnetic Media news team directly as well as online. On some occasions the posts are riddled with expletives as tourists express their frustration.
That a day at the airport can overshadow the Turks and Caicos’ extensive and luxurious offerings is a serious concern for stakeholders.
“There is no way this can continue for another 3-5 years. Too many tourists are saying never again.”
That timeline is supposed to be the cutoff point for a redevelopment of the airport.
But the question that operator put to our news team is if the pristine reputation of the country can continue to take the beating that the airport is giving it. Weekends are usually the worst. The problem, well documented over the years, is that too many aircraft come in too short a time frame bogging down arrivals and departures and concentrating thousands of guests in the airport at the same time.
It’s clearly the major issue, as on weekdays which usually have low traffic travelers report being in and out in minutes.
On the worst days though it results in a crush of people with barely standing room in the terminal while others wait in long lines in the blazing sun. The Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority (TCIAA) which oversees all government owned international airports in the country has begun to divert flights to private airfields nearby.
Godfrey Stewart, TCIAA CEO told the news team it was ‘simply an innovation to facilitate and maximize time and minimize diversion anywhere.’
“The option to use private ramps is not new. It’s situational as and [used] when needed. The TCIAA operations team understood the need to improvise and did so,” Smith told us
It comes at no charge to the TCIAA and is ‘ according to the CEO who described it as ‘most helpful.’
FBO operators aren’t as convinced, and they say a permanent solution is needed
“It’s not ideal but it’s better than forcing them to circle for extended periods or have to divert because they need to land and there is no room. That the airport thinks this is a better idea than spreading out the flights and continues to try to accept 50 flights in too short a window is really unfortunate,” one told us.
The FBO’s aren’t the only ones who think this way, islanders and visitors have been calling for a drastic change in scheduling as well to spread out the flights allowing less congestion and smoother operations. For the government though that is a no-can-do for the Turks and Caicos.
“Slot management is program scheduling of flights to control volume and timing of flights. It works best in large airports rather than secondary airports like HHIA.
Airlines build their flight schedule around its hub and connection demands at major hubs,” Arlington Musgrove, Minister of Immigration and Border Security, told the news team months prior when we had asked about the issue in the midst of another flare up of congestion.
Already visitors who have experienced the airport are warning others to pick a trip elsewhere
‘It obviously is outdated and in need of a huge renovation. I really can’t see myself coming back here. For a place to be expensive and the first thing you go through,” a traveler said in a January 4 post on Yelp where the airport has a two-star rating.
On March 25th another customer posted his detailed experience
“I’ve travelled to many small countries/airports in my life, but have never experienced anything even close to as bad as the Providenciales airport in Turks and Caicos. For our departure, we waited 1 hour just to check our bags, then another 2.5 hours in a jam-packed, dirty, 85 degree line to get to security. Once in the gate area, another 2 hours before they announced that the flight was canceled. We had to spend $1200 for one-night hotel accommodations, then went back the next day for more of the same: delays, waiting in long lines in high heat. Turks and Caicos has nice beaches and clear water, but this airport experience, along with the high costs, bad roads, water restrictions, and mosquitos do not make it worth the visit. Never again.”
It was similar to a February review, ”Utter and complete disaster. No staff, poor line management and extremely, extremely long lines— Not sure I want to experience this again. Go elsewhere.”
“Worst airport, I would not recommend going to Turks and Caicos because the airport is so terrible. It is hell on earth, maybe worse,” said another. And possibly one of the most damning came from a seasoned traveler
“This is the worst organized airport I’ve ever been to, and I’m an airline pilot so I’ve been to a lot of them,” a traveler said on March 9.
That was only some of the 2024 reviews and almost all advise travelers to avoid the country completely.
With the growing popularity of the Turks and Caicos the government is expecting to hit a million stay over guests soon the bulk of which will likely have to be funneled through the Providenciales International Airport.
With no slowdown in sight some industry professionals are already worried that if the country doesn’t find a permanent solution to the crisis it will start to pay for that with lower arrival numbers.
