ANR Robinson New Terminal To Be “Fully Operational” By Q2 2026
Finally, we’re see the light at the end of the tunnel. The new ANR Robinson International Airport terminal will soon open its doors to the public in early 2026.
On Monday, Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Finance Davendranath Tancoo presented the 2026 National Budget. As part of the reading, he mentioned the new terminal at the ANR Robinson International Airport will be “fully operational” by the second quarter of 2026.
Unfortunately, this does not give us a firm opening date, but I’ll have to assume it’s some time between Q1 and Q2 2026. My assumption is that they may look to first commence domestic operations between Trinidad and Tobago, before moving on to facilitating international flights.
In theory, getting domestic operations up and running should be much easier as there would be less stringent requirements that need to be met. With domestic flights in motion, they could then continue finalizing last minute fittings and certification works for international operations.
The project which was started in July 2020, reached technical completion on March 15, 2025. To match today’s modern standards, the new airport features jet bridges, LED lighting, high-efficiency air-conditioning, and solar panels to offset power consumption.
The building design is similar to a number of other Caribbean airports, featuring high ceilings with an all-glass exterior, offering passengers and other patrons an excellent view of the surrounding areas.
According to the original design plans, the airport was planned hanlde up to five wide body aircraft (including Boeing 747s and Airbus A330s), with four additional spots for smaller turboprop aircraft (mainly for Caribbean Airlines ATR service).
For now, only two jet bridges have been installed even though the ramp itself will be capable of facilitating the initial aircraft numbers. As Tobago currently has a limited number of medium and heavy flights, the decision is understandable, and additional bridges can be fitted in in the planned spots once traffic numbers increase over time.
A new terminal is not the be all, and end all
Having a new airport terminal is great, and as a Trinidadian, I’m excited to give it a go once it opens. However, an airport alone will not immediately bring added airlift. One of Tobago’s biggest downfalls is the lack of adequate and modern accommodation capacity.
Besides the plethora of Airbnbs, there aren’t any noteworthy hotels or resorts to talk about. The current stock of hotels is either run down or just not up to today’s standards, making it hard to convince any major airline to consider adding Tobago to their route network.
On a positive note, there are a few projects in the pipeline, and at the budget reading, special mention was given to the upcoming Marriott and Hilton Tapestry projects. At the time of the technical completion handover, then Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley mentioned that they restarted talks with Sandals Resorts International in the hopes of getting them to give Tobago a second look.
Since then, there have been no further updates regarding progress of these talks. Looking further within the region, St. Vincent opened the newly built Argyle International Airport in February 2017, but did not see a major increase in air traffic until Sandals stepped in, resulting in a 25% increase in visitor arrivals at the end of 2024.
We can even talk about Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea project. Prior to the project, there was no airlift in that region, and the Red Sea International Airport was only built as a means of making it easier to get passengers to the multitude of resorts that are currently being built across the island chains.
