INSIDE THIS ISSUE : MAY 2015 Here s to a cool SUMMER in the City. Cheers! COVER TEAM AAJ LABOUR WITH LOTS OF LOVE - picture highlights Page 2-3

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1 AIRPORTS NEWS AIRPORTS NEWS & UPDATES INSIDE THIS ISSUE : MAY 2015 Here s to a cool SUMMER in the City. Cheers! COVER TEAM AAJ LABOUR WITH LOTS OF LOVE - picture highlights Page 2-3 NMIA & Jamaica Tourist Board fete the Diaspora Page 4 TRAVEL UPDATE * Airport Funnies * Page 5 10 incredible places in JAMAICA you need to visit this SUMMER! Page 6 TEAM NMIA out n about AAJ Schools Art Project returns Page 6 UP COMING SPECIAL EVENTS save the date! Page 7

2 SCENES FROM LABOUR DAY 2015 NMIA, IFIA & KEN JONES AERODROME In keeping with the national theme for Labour Day 2015 Labour of love; nurturing our children TEAM AAJ (Norman Manley Int l Airport (NMIA), Ian Fleming Int l Airport (IFIA) and Ken Jones Aerodrome) focused on improving and revamping spaces designated for children. NMIA work crew spent the day with its adopted school family at the Donald Quarrie High. The main activity was the construction of a 120ft concrete pedestrian walkway (from the roadway to the security gate ) for the safe traversing of the students. The introduction of the walkway effectively separates vehicular traffic from the pedestrians entering and exiting the facility. The new access was completed with landscaping, electrical and plumbing works. Acting President of the AAJ and CEO of the NMIA, Audley Deidrick, explained that the relationship between the AAJ/NMIA and the Donald Quarrie High School has been a long and satisfying one. We have adopted Donald Quarrie High as one of the schools we ve supported over the years so we saw it fit to undertake this venture for our children he said. The AAJ/NMIA has also facilitated internships and conducted tours at the airport for career planning and personal development; contributed to the school s posthurricane clean-up activities; collaborated on numerous infrastructural development projects; employed summer workers and provided annual scholarships and bursaries for students. Ian Fleming Int l and Ken Jones Aerodrome took their labour of love to Iona High School and St. Margaret s Basic School respectively. They joined hands with the school communities to repaint walls and repair badly damaged walkways. Ingrid Marsden Acting Operations Officer and lead organizer on the rural labour day projects, reported a day well spent and reiterated the sincere appreciation expressed by the respective school communities for the improvements to the facilities. TEAM AAJ /NMIA LABOUR WITH LOVE Page 2

3 SCENES FROM LABOUR DAY 2015 NMIA, IFIA & KEN JONES AERODROME Ingrid Marsden Actg. Operations Officer / Aerodromes TEAM IFIA takes a break from the labour of love to pose for the shutterbugs. (L) Community members make their contribution to the labour of love ( R) Paulette Tulloch (AAJ Manager) cared for the little ones on location. Yes we can! Page 3

4 NMIA & Jamaica Tourist Board fete the Diaspora NEW YORK, NY May 2015 As a show of appreciation to the Diaspora community, the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) and the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) recently hosted a special reception in their honor in midtown Manhattan. The hosts thanked them for being integral to the success of tourism to Jamaica s capital city, Kingston. A wide cross section of persons from this key target group comprising members of the alumni associations, businesses, clergy, community groups, not-for-profit organizations, and unions attended the invitation only event, hosted by Jamaican internet sensation Dutty Berry. Jamaica s Consul General Herman G. LaMont (2nd right) and Alfred McDonald, (right) Snr. Director, Commercial Development and Planning, NMIA share the lens with Suzette Rochester, Florida Manager, VMBS and Andrew Lawrence, (left), President/Director of the Caribbean New York State Senator Leroy Comrie (left) poses with Director of Tourism Paul Pennicook during Diaspora Appreciation Reception on Wednesday, May 13 Jamaica s Director of Tourism Paul Pennicook in his remarks reiterated the importance of the Diaspora to the island s tourism. You re our ambassadors and we thank you for your ongoing support over the years. We are happy to report that overall arrivals for the winter, that is, January through April 2015 are up five percent. Final figures through March reveal an increase of 9.8% from the US. New York State is up 11.8% and more importantly, non-resident Jamaicans (Diaspora) arrivals are up 5.8% overall, and for the month of March, there was an increase of 15.7%, noted Mr. Pennicook. The Tourism Director also advised the audience that 25% of the visitor traffic to Jamaica arrives in Kingston. He further noted that persons visiting the North Coast can now choose to arrive through the Norman Manley International Airport. Some of you may not know, but one third of the North-South link of the highway is now completed. This has already chopped 25 minutes off the Kingston to Ocho Rios journey because persons are now able to bypass Mount Rosser. Additionally, the rest of that highway should be completed by the first quarter of 2016 and it is estimated that it will make the journey from Kingston to Ocho Rios less than an hour, emphasized Mr. Pennicook. Among the government officials in attendance at the special reception were: Ambassador Courtenay Rattray, Jamaica s Permanent Representative to the United Nations; Herman G. LaMont, Jamaica s Consul General and New York State Senator Leroy Comrie. The three-hour program comprised airline trips and hotel accommodation giveaways throughout the evening along with live entertainment. Special Thanks to our Airline Sponsors : Caribbean Airlines, DELTA, Fly Jamaica, InterCaribbean Airways & Jet Blue Page 4

5 TRAVEL UPDATE : Mosquito-borne virus Zika KINGSTON, Jamaica The Ministry of Health has warned Jamaicans to take all necessary precautions in light of the mosquito-borne Zika virus outbreak in Brazil, that could spread to the island. The first case of the Zika virus was reported in the Dominican Republic earlier this week. The warning comes after recent meetings at the World Health Assembly Switzerland, and subsequent to a warning issued by the Pan American Health Organization. The Aedes aegypti mosquito, which spreads the Zika virus is generally found in and around places where people inhabit. Persons are urged to search for and destroy mosquito breeding sites by getting rid of old tyres and containers in which water can settle, punching holes in tins before disposing, and covering large drums, barrels and tanks holding water. Aedes aegypti mosquito The Zika virus is from the same family as and is similar to dengue with symptoms which include fever, joint and muscle pain, conjunctivitis (pink eye), headache, weakness, rash, and swelling of the lower limbs. After the bite of an infected mosquito, symptoms usually appear following the incubation period of three to 12 days. The symptoms last for four to seven days. No deaths due to the Zika virus have been recorded worldwide to date. The Zika virus is transmitted by the bite of an infected Aedes aegypti mosquito the same mosquito that transmits chikungunya and dengue. Brazil confirmed its first cases of the Zika virus in May this year. The Ministry of Health is taking this potential threat very seriously and urging Jamaicans to do their part to prevent mosquito breeding and so help to reduce any possibility of the introduction of the Zika virus into the island. There is no specific vaccine or treatment for the virus and therefore personal responsibility is key. The border control officers at the various Gateways are on high alert. The Zika Virus was first isolated in 1947 in a Rhesus monkey in the Zika Forest, Uganda. It was first isolated in humans in 1952 in Uganda and Tanzania. Outbreaks have been seen since then in countries including the island of Yap (2007), French Polynesia (2013) and Brazil (2015). Airport sniffer dog Page 5

6 10 incredible places in JAMAICA you need to visit this SUMMER! Start planning your SUMMER ESCAPE to JAMAICA. Visit: for your personal guide to the TOP 10 incredible places. #1 REGGAE FALLS, St. Thomas. Ja. For more details contact : aaj@aaj.com.jm TEAM AAJ / NMIA OUT n ABOUT... Friday, 29 May 2015 Location: Jessie Ripoll Primary School,Kgn MATHS EXPO THEME: Mathematics a Way of Life: Then and Now. NMIA Engineering, Maintenance & Projects (EMP) Division, lead by Snr. Director Horace Bryson - was on location to show n tell the little ones of the importance of Mathematics in the day-to- day management / maintenance of the airport. Page 6 Kathryn Prendergast and Wayne Mignott (above) explain the application of maths with a sample of the runway core.

7 UPCOMING EVENTS. YOUR OFFICIAL GATEWAY TO THE HOME OF REGGAE Page 7