THE gunman who last night hijacked a CanJet charter flight with 159 passengers and eight crew members on board at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay has surrendered.
CanJet flight number 918 was destined for Halifax, Canada, with a scheduled stop in Santa Clara, Cuba.
Early this morning, police reported that the gunman released all passengers and two members of the crew shortly after staging the hijack
Last night, airport sources said the man showed airport personnel a gun when they tried to prevent him from entering a restricted area.
The hijack took place at approximately 10:20 pm, just about the same time that Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, arrived at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston (over 130 miles south-east of Montego Bay)
on a two-day working visit during which he will address a special session of Parliament this afternoon.
The incident has turned the spotlight on security at the airport which was privatised late 2002 to an international consortium led by Canadian Vancouver Airports Services, which, under a 30-year concession, operates as MBJ Airports Ltd.
At the time of the privatisation, the Jamaican Government had projected to spend US$127 million on the Sangster development project which is scheduled to run up to 2022.
Sangster is one of the largest, busiest and most modern airports in the Caribbean.
