Hurricane Melissa cuts Jamaica’s air traffic by over 500,000 passengers in 2025

Jamaica closed 2025 with 524,000 fewer air passengers, the steepest annual decline since the COVID-19 pandemic, after Hurricane Melissa severely disrupted the island’s tourism sector late in the year.

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According to the Pacific Airport Group (GAP), which operates Jamaica’s two largest airports, both Montego Bay and Kingston were affected by storm-related disruptions. “Montego Bay and Kingston recorded decreases … as a result of disruptions caused by Hurricane Melissa,” the airport operator said in its year-end report.

Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay bore the brunt of the impact, handling 4.47 million passengers in 2025, an 11.6 per cent decline from 2024. The drop translated to 588,000 fewer travellers year-on-year. Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, meanwhile, recorded modest growth, welcoming 1.84 million passengers, up 3.6 per cent, or roughly 64,000 additional travellers. Combined, traffic at the two airports fell by a net 524,000 passengers.

The decline followed a period of gradual recovery after Hurricane Beryl in 2024, but Melissa’s strike in October reversed those gains. Montego Bay traffic had already slipped 3.0 per cent in 2024, while Kingston managed a 1.0 per cent increase despite the earlier storm. By comparison, during the height of the pandemic in 2020, passenger traffic at Montego Bay plunged 66 per cent, though Kingston’s figures that year were influenced by the timing of GAP’s takeover of the airport.

GAP, which manages 12 airports in Mexico and two in Jamaica, reported a marginal 0.1 per cent year-on-year increase in overall December traffic across its portfolio. Jamaica’s downturn, however, stood out, highlighting the island’s exposure to external shocks. Hurricane Melissa damaged hotels and disrupted tour operations, triggering widespread cancellations. While Kingston benefits from business travel and returning residents, those segments were insufficient to offset the collapse in leisure arrivals concentrated in Montego Bay.

Before Hurricane Melissa struck, tourism indicators had been trending upward. The Planning Institute of Jamaica estimated that the country recorded 535,643 stopover arrivals in July and August 2025, a 7.0 per cent increase year-on-year, generating US$786.8 million in earnings, up 10.1 per cent. Those gains, however, were ultimately overshadowed by the late-year impact of the storm.

Despite the decline in passenger traffic, the tourism industry formally resumed full operations in December 2025. Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett said in November that the sector is expected to return to full operational capacity by May 2026, underscoring the length of the recovery ahead.

Speaking on November 13 to the United States-based Fox News Network, Bartlett acknowledged the scale of the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa, particularly in western Jamaica, where much of the island’s resort infrastructure is concentrated. He said government agencies and nonprofit organisations have mobilised food aid, clothing, tools and other essentials, supported by international donations and volunteer efforts.

At the same time, Bartlett framed renewed travel as a key component of the recovery. “The best way to give back is to come back,” he said, urging visitors to return as rebuilding continues.