‘I am not in favour of airport expansion’- Bishop John I. Cline
Minister of the Gospel and Chairman of the BVI Health Services Authority (BVIHSA) Bishop John I. Cline is well known for his candidness in saying just what he thinks of any given situation as it relates to Virgin Islands, be it for or against the NDP or the former Virgin Islands Party (VIP) governments.
This time he threw a wet blanket on the much-touted airport expansion being extensively pushed mainly by the two top bosses of Government, Premier and Minister of Finance Dr The Honourable D. Orlando Smith and the Deputy Premier and Minister for Natural Resources and Labour Dr The Honourable Kedrick D. Pickering.
Not in favour of airport expansion
Bishop Cline, speaking on the most recent talk show hosted by Shaina M. Smith, Vigilate Dialog, where the topic was “Socio-economic Development, Business, Religion and Governance, said government should invest in at least two ferry boats instead.
“There is a lot of talk about the airport, I am definitely not in favour of the airport, right now,” said Bishop Cline.
According to Bishop Cline, the airport project is one that should be put on the back burner until such time that the Territory’s finances are in a better standing.
“I think for our tourist product what we need is a good concierge service. We meet them in St Thomas, when they get off that plane we rent a nice little lounge in St Thomas, we put them in there. The government invests in two wonderfully air conditioned running on-time ferries with proper management,” the Bishop said.
He further said that when tourists are coming from St Thomas to the VI there should be music and immigration officers on the boats. “Everybody is cleared and processed at the same time so when they reach the BVI they are not huddled into some little alley at Road Town or West End trying to clear customs.”
“We don’t have to stick with the traditional mold. Somebody has to think outside the box and say we can do this, let us develop our own model.”
Opposition to airport project
Since this NDP Government took office back in 2011 they have been pushing the expansion of the territory’s main airport but have been getting strong opposition for it from all corners.
In 2012 it was the then Opposition Member and Second District Representative Hon J. Alvin Christopher who had said he was not convinced the Territory needs a “long haul” airport, but if this must be the case, then there are other options.
It was during the budget debate held in the Fifth Sitting of the Second Session of the Second House of Assembly on December 18, 2012 Hon Christopher said that government can build an airport in Anegada for a fraction of the cost that was being touted for the one in Beef Island.
He had said, “We are willing to put the country in debt to build an airport that is way beyond what we can borrow and we have alternatives.”
Then there was the rambling of the Chinese being given the upper hand over locals to do the works.
It was this news site that first and accurately broke the story on May 17, 2016 that two companies made the final list on the runway extension project. They were China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) Ltd, and IDL Group, which merged with Sir Robert McAlpine Holdings and local partner ADC of the Virgin Islands.
The Chinese company, owned by the government of the Communist regime that practice a form of state control capitalism, had no local partner at the time they bid, however, according to our senior NDP sources they have since linked-up with a local company.
According to information received from our sources at that time, China Communications Construction Company Ltd’s bid was approximately $154 Million and IDL Group, the Sir Robert McAlpine Holdings and local partner ADC bid, was reportedly $199 Million.
Government’s alleged lean towards the Chinese bid has caused a split among Cabinet members, NDP supporters and local contractors.
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45 Responses to “‘I am not in favour of airport expansion’- Bishop John I. Cline”
Nothing happens overnight. The point is that SKB was able to lift themselves out of poverty and depending too heavily on their cane fields and have overtaken us by leaps and bounds when it comes to tourism and lodging. They couldve only done that because of the airport and access. The BVI only saving grace right now is our second to none sailing waters/experience with the chain of islands in such close proximity offering an experience like no other. Otherwise we would have been @"£$%. I dont know when BVI ppl will wake up and stop being fools.
I agree with him fully on this one. Wy in the hell would I pay exorbitant rates and deal with clearing US immigration and customs and immigration in Miami when I can clear in in St Thomas and catch a cheap flight out. The Tourists make the same decision and close to 1/3 of the traffic through Cyril King is BVI traffic.
Makes absolutely no sense. Proper Ferry links between the two Islands maybe even BVI pre-clearance while you are waiting to catch the Ferry over. Subsidize the Ferry Route so there is a regular service or establish some kind of cooperative system to ensure the low traffic schedules can be subsidized.
This is just our friendly neighborhood Parasitic Political Oligarchy looking after its own interests and those of their benefactors. Not the Territory
Our financial services industry is on the blink. We need to enhance our tourism product and this requires air lift I think the tourist are frustrated with this long trip to their BVI.
We appear to be consumed about the effects of Donald Trump and his rise to power and at the same time ignoring the fact that we have our own TRUMP here in the BVI.
First, let's a take a look at airlift. The airline business is capital intensive but with a thin profit margin undertaking. As I try to recall what I vaguely remenber from Airline Economics 101, a few terms come to mind, i.e., revenue per passsnger mile, available seat mile, passenger load factor, break-even load factor.........etc. Of these, let's take a peek at passenger load factor (PLF) and breakeven load factor.
Every flight that take offs or lands has a fix cost that must be covered by either passing passengers, freight ...etc. But breaking even is not good enough, for airlines are in business to make a profit. In the hospitality business, the goal and objective are to put heads in beds so too in the airline business the aim is to put paying butts in the seats. It does matter how long a runway is or how modern an airport is no airline will start or continue on a route if it is not consistently attaining at least the minimum PLF. To sustain the PLF, means putting passengers in seats. No frills, low cost airlines need even higher PLF. Will the VI have the consistent high PLF to interest airlines??? If not direct flights then what?
True, we promote ourselves as being different. However, our sister OT Anguilla ferries tourists from Princess Juliana Airport in St. Martin ( St. Martin is the hub for the surrounding area) to Anguilla. It seems to be working for them. Can the same be done from Cyril King to the BVI? If yes, a modern ferry system, along with other coordination effort, must be put in place and sustain.
Moreove, in the airline business, leakage, especially on short hauls, is an on going challenge for small airports that are short distances away from larger airports. People will drive the short distances to the large airports to save the the $300-500 person cost. In the VI situation, will passengers fly in to and out of Cyril King because of the lower cost, resulting in leakage at TBLIA? Given the VI current apparent financial challenges, is investing $1.5-3 hundred million on extending TBLIA the best use of scarce resources? If the VI build it, will they come? What regrets will the VI have if the investment Ian not made today? What I said the opportunity cost if the investment is made now?
It is infested with to many slimy greedy Aligators.
We need to invest in the ferries and infrastructure and let the airport maybe another 10/12 years
If Bvi airways could land with a 100 passenger jet why we need to invest 200million in a runway
Let the airlines buy jet that could used our existing facility they will be the winners in the end
Bronson is not good for the Bvi when it comes to airlift
That guy have virgin Atlantic and would not do a flight to the Bvi and now trying to build a 50passenger jet @ $5000.00 a person from New York to London in half the regular flying time
Visit 360 Caribbean news and read the story about Bronson flight plans
Bronson building cruise ship to sail the Caribbean 2020 and the Bvi was not mentioned as one of the ports why is he here sucking on our country with all kind of tax breaks politicians wake up he is no good England wants to take away his nighthood wake up Bvi
air port is a must and paster need to stick with his save d seed and live a better family life
Among these are procuring approx $200M to extend the runway and consistent, strong passenger loading. Well, it is not as simple as dropping some cash to extend the runway, airlines rushing to schedule fiights and voila direct flights are touching down at TBLIA. E. Leonard in his blog touched on some of the airline economics involved in making this happen. Ok. Lots of people are deplanning at TBLIA but we need to also look at having adequate beds to put the heads in.