For the first time, a group of professional pilots and crew members from seven different countries, competing for the Canadian Governor General’s Cup, visited Anguilla on 20 small planes.
They arrived from Holland, China, Australia, Switzerland, France, Canada and the United States. The 54 pilots, crew members and sponsors, who crossed the Atlantic to the Caribbean in larger aircraft, and then rented smaller planes, flew into the Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport on Monday afternoon, April 16.
They were met by Governor Alistair Harrison, Chief Minister Hubert Hughes, other Ministers, Advisers, and representatives of the Tourist Board. It was also arranged for a number of children from the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School, interested in aviation, to meet the pilots and visit their planes.
The aviation group was officially welcomed toAnguillaby Governor Harrison at a reception at Government House held in their honour on Monday evening. “For everybody in Anguilla, it is tremendous news that you decided, for the first time, to come to Anguilla as part of your itinerary this year. And so we very warmly welcome you and hope you have a wonderful time on the island,” the Governor stated.
Chief Minister, Hubert Hughes, told the group that they might have heard a lot about Anguilla through slogans such as Tranquillity Wrapped in Blue and Seeing is Believing. He went on: “I want you to enjoy yourself. I know you have come a long way…to Anguilla, the land of many pristine beaches…We have a wonderful society here and, as a matter of fact, everybody comes here for peace and quiet.”
Organiser of the event, Catherine Tobenas, said Anguilla was a beautiful place with wonderful people. “I would like to say thank you to Governor Harrison and Chief Minister Hughes for receiving us in such a nice way. We will tell people and actually they will see what we experienced here. It is a wonderful, wonderful place. I saw it already with the connection I made with the tourism people during the preparation [for the visit].”
Earlier at the Governor’s reception, Ms. Tobenas told media representatives that the mission of the group was to promote aviation and at the same time discover new cultures in the Caribbean region, rather than visiting the same international countries everytime.“I called the people in tourism inAnguilla, and the reception was wonderful,” she said. “The way they reacted and said they were willing to do something nice, makes me call them aviation friendly. They were very helpful, very nice people.”
Information about the flying event stated that it was “not just about aviation, it is about people, cultures and friendship” aimed at meeting the residents and learning about them, their island and history. (Despite this, however, it was not arranged for them to visit Heritage Collection Museum at East End which showcases the rich and diverse social and cultural history of the island.)
The “Caribbean Challenge”, as the flying event was called, was described as “not a race” but a way in which “pilots will put to test general knowledge and aviation skills.” Aviation Connection, the non-profit organisation, which is responsible for the event, pointed out that: “Way point identification during flight, navigation and technical tests, precision landings and flight time evaluation are just a small part of the challenge.”
The itinerary for the visit of the group to Anguilla included exploring the island, dining at local restaurants and attending a number of social and cultural functions.
The pilots left Anguilla on Wednesday morning forGrenada. They will later go on to Martinique where they will participate in a local air show before making two stops in the Dominican Republic and then flying back to the Turks and Caicos Islands.
