Mr. Speaker, on the 23rd July 2021, I advised this honourable House of the payments made as set out in the Project Agreement between Skyport and the Bermuda Airport Authority. I wish to provide the House with an update on the latest MRG payment made to Skyport this month.
Mr. Speaker, on 10th October Skyport, provided the Airport Authority with a formal notice of the shortfall between the actual airport regulated revenue collected for the period from the 1st July to the 30th September 2021 and the guaranteed minimum regulated revenue for the same period, which was an amount totalling $8,451,053.51.
Mr. Speaker, earlier this year, I advised the House that the Project Agreement contains a pre-determined payment schedule of the MRG amounts for each calendar quarter of the 30-year contract. The Government continues to honour its obligations in this regard, including making this latest MRG payment of $8,451,053.51 to Skyport.
Mr. Speaker, to date, we have made five MRG payments to Skyport totalling $40,964,566.74. Although we are trending in the right direction (each consecutive payment has been lower than the previous one), even with the increased air routes and passenger traffic resulting from our new Air Service Development Strategy, we anticipate that MRG payments in 2022, could be over $10M.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.