Despite the commencement of daily flights from Miami on March 3, St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ tourism minister says access to several CARICOM islands is challenging.
On Monday, February 27, Minister Carlos James stated that this is one among the many issues being examined at the CARICOM head level.
“There are discussions, and there’s now a report being prepared by the Caribbean Development Bank to determine how best we can support having the financing and the operationalization of a more strong intra-regional air travel in terms of air transportation. These discussions are ongoing, and maybe we can see some encouraging results in the not too distant future as it relates to intra-regional travel”.
Further fleet expansion for Caribbean Airlines and Inter Caribbean Airways is likely this year, according to James.
“I believe Caribbean Airlines is adding four ATRs to their existing fleet to fly in the southern Caribbean. Inter Caribbean Airlines’ fleet is also expected to grow. They will be expanding their fleet, and I suppose they will add a new ATR to try to meet demand.” There is a high demand for inter-regional travel, and I know all of the regional carriers are working hard to figure out how to meet that demand within CARICOM.”
According to James, there has been a significant hole in the movement of passengers across the region since the fallout from Liat.
