On Monday night this week they were reporting on the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation that GAIA will finally be getting four air bridges - http://www.cbc.bb/content/view/4475/10/ - as part of the next phase of expansion. Not that this is the first time it is being reported, we have heard it several times before but so far I have not heard of a date by which to expect them; and that is probably intentional given the massive delays and problems we have seen over the last several years in the current phases of construction. The larger question is - do we really need air bridges at GAIA.The factor of the matter is that these contraptions were developed in and for places with long periods of foul weather which makes boarding and de-planing very difficult for everyone. Barbados is blessed with good weather most of the time making this facility more of a luxury than a necessity (and I am speaking as someone who was doused in a shower of rain at GAIA at least once). And, although Bajans have been speaking of themselves days more in terms of a developed nation rather than a developing one, judging by the state of the roads, water shortages and sanitation problems, I would say this is a luxury Barbados can probably do without at this time.
Keep in mind too that air bridges were not part of the original design of the expansion project, a design which won some architectural acclaim, I might add. Indeed, these four bridges, IMHO, will do great violence to that aesthetic. Tourists and locals alike will now see a back door rather than a front one when they land at GAIA. As far as I can tell, the decision to add air bridges was a political one made to keep up with our neighbors to the south who have fourteen (note the 4 in 14) such bridges at the new Piarco. We seem to have forgotten the late Dr. Williams warning about Trinidad - "money is no problem, the problem is money."
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