The Minister of Tourism and Infrastructure, the Honourable Mr. Haydn Hughes, announced last Monday that Caribbean Airlines will be providing airlift on a Barbados to Anguilla route as of this coming summer. He shared the welcome news during the regular Government Press Conference on Monday, March 15th:
“On the tourism front, as we are aware, the region has suffered tremendously because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he reflected. “Not only in the region, but the Gatwick Airport in the UK has seen historic lows in passenger movement with numbers that reflect those as far back as 1966. It is reported that the industry has lost over a billion dollars in tourism and tourism related business.”
“Be that as it may,” he said, “there are still some bright signs on the horizon for Anguilla. Considering the fact that so far we have had over 6,000 persons registered for the vaccine, it is likely that we will get at least halfway to our goal in very short order. I commend the Ministry of Health as it continues to do a tremendous job. That said, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Tourism has also been working hard to encourage and build airlift into Anguilla. We are happy to announce that, starting this summer, Caribbean Airlines will be serving Anguilla on a direct route from Barbados, and we hope to have this route later expanded across the region.”
He disclosed: “The aircraft to be used for this service will be the ATR-72 with a capacity of 68 passengers. Caribbean Airlines also has in its fleet the ATR-600 and the Boeing 737, so they have a tremendous amount of equipment that can serve many routes including Miami, New York, Bahamas, Cuba, and Canada. We will be working meticulously to explore these routes. We are also looking at later opening another route from Punta Cana International Airport in the Dominican Republic.”
The Minister noted that initially, Caribbean Airlines had hoped to commence flights to Anguilla in May, but plans had to be pushed back due to mitigating circumstances. When asked whether he was able to specify at what point in the “summer” the actual service would begin, the Minister responded: “I can’t say specifically now, but it can be anywhere between the months of July and August.”
The Minister noted that initially, Caribbean Airlines had hoped to commence flights to Anguilla in May, but plans had to be pushed back due to mitigating circumstances. When asked whether he was able to specify at what point in the “summer” the actual service would begin, the Minister responded: “I can’t say specifically now, but it can be anywhere between the months of July and August.”
– Staff Reporter, James R. Harrigan
