For Stewart Steeves, an airport is not simply a place where you travel from one place to another.  As the President and CEO of the Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD) strides through the new U.S. Departures Terminal, flanked by dozens of bustling restaurants and shops, he sees one of Nassau's most important strategic assets hard at work.

Indeed, the $409.5 million development expansion - the largest public/private infrastructure project in the history of The Bahamas - will not cost the government a dime.  And the rising role of commerce at Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) is a big reason why.  With 105 businesses and 3,000 employees, LPIA is evolving into a mall and entertainment center.
"This airport is being paid for by the fees charged to passengers.

"But generating revenue by leasing out space to commerce is also key for us," Steeves told Guardian Business during a tour of the airport.  "Commercial options are not a tariff. They have a choice, such as shopping or eating."  Commercial options are a way to produce revenue where people are making conscious decisions."  Leasing commercial space is important for any airport, but perhaps even more so at LPIA.

With the fee model in place, opening up alternative streams of revenue are essential so minimal costs are passed on to tourists.  On January 1, NAD will enact a 10 percent increase in landing fees and a three percent rise in terminal aircraft landing, bridge fees and aircraft parking fees.  However, according to Steeves, these increases were established from the earliest stages of planning, when the project was "sketches on a napkin".

 Fees will rise each year of the construction project and when LPIA graduates to a new stage of development.  After January 1, for example, the next increase in fees will be when the International Arrivals Building is complete near the end of 2012.  In essence, commerce helps ensure that fees will not rise beyond the expected spikes.  Stepping out of Terminal One, Steeves directed Guardian Business through the parking lot and around the construction site of the new International Arrivals Building.

Now 30 percent complete, he pointed out that NAD is saving approximately $10 million from constructing the facility using existing infrastructure and materials - the remanents of the old U.S. Departures building.  What is going inside is even more important.  In terms of commerce, apart from the usual shops and restaurants, NAD is currently accepting bids for Hotel Reception Lounges.

These exclusive spaces are being offered to hotels and resorts to lease and develop as they see fit.  "They range from 410 to 700 square feet, so hotels and resorts can welcome their guests," he explained. "It's a separate space that can be used for many things, to do what they see fit."  That said, it is not a simple matter of signing on the dotted line, Steeves said.
With five spots up for grabs, businesses are now engaged in a bidding war that expires on November 1. In submitting a proposal, hotels are asked to place a bid for the lease and present a development plan.

Vernice Walkine, the vice president of Marketing and Communications, added that although the highest licensing price is important, NAD is seeking a "committed effort" and someone who will develop the space.  "We have gone from minimal retail to significant," Walkine said
"The airport was built with the intention of creating commerce. You give people the options and they will spend money."

There is no better example of these new options than in the freshly-built U.S. Departures Terminal.  In the check-in area, Steeves pointed to a car and jet ski on display. "That's added revenue," he said.  A convenience store sat directly across from the check-in counter, but the real mother load is revealed after passing through security.

Past a bubbling fountain and two sculptures of Bahamians in Junkanoo costumes, passengers are presented to an array of shopping and eating options - Kafe Kalik, Pirana Joe, John Bull, My Ocean and Uniquely Bahamian. There are three outdoor patios for dining - a feature that is "unheard of" in the airport world, according to Steeves. For the month of August, Walkine added that live entertainment was brought in to play in the food court and this attraction will be revisited during Christmas.

Meanwhile, past big business storefronts, smaller kiosks in the corridors cater to the little guy.
In an effort to maximize revenue, NAD has made itself open to commerce both big and small.
However, one of the bigger projects currently in the works is a hotel deal, which Steeves said is "still under discussions". He told Guardian Business the international brand, reportedly 4-Star, is not yet locked into a deal involving Bahamian investors.  Walkine explained that a hotel brings with it many more business opportunities, and for NAD, more space to lease.
"Attached to a [nearby hotel] could be a restaurant and bar. Any airport hotel creates a critical mass of business to varying degrees," she said.

The airport has even taken advantage of opportunities further afield. Still sitting on airport property, a Shell gas station had just sprung up along JFK Drive.  "It's pretty well finished but the roads are still being worked on," Steeves said.  After taking Guardian Business through the mechanical rooms and sophisticated innards of the airport, it became clear just how many moving parts make an airport work.  For NAD, however, the business model is not for it simply to function. It has to make money, too.

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