VIP Gov't in discussion for return of American Airlines to VI
The airline’s last flight out of the territory was on March 31, 2013, and the airline said the phase-out after more than 25 years of service was because there was a decline in flights after September 2011.
The airline commenced service to the territory with a 19-seat plane in September 1986 flying from Puerto Rico, and it upgraded to a 64-seat ATR 72.
Discussion ongoing for some time- Premier
Premier Fahie said during the VIP Let’s Talk on Tuesday, July 28, 2021, that the discussions with the carrier have been going on for some time.
He said this was even before Anguilla’s recent success in negotiating direct flights from the US mainland to its airport.
“There are some factors that must be known because some persons just like to speak, where our airport is some 800 feet shorter than Anguilla,” he said.
He noted that “one of the areas that they (American Airlines) have concerns with us is that the length that we do have, they can come in, but they are concerned that if they come in full, and it’s raining, and it's wet that they cannot land and they don’t want to take that chance. So we have been working with them, and we have had more meetings to see what we can narrow down.”
Plans for the airport expansion has been discussed for many years, and Premier Fahie said the plan would eventually come to fruition.
American Airlines is expanding its base in the region and has also added Dominica to its new route.
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21 Responses to “VIP Gov't in discussion for return of American Airlines to VI”
Anguilla has less Seaborne flight than we do and they are getting a direct flight, you do the math.
I know the runway situation is bad, not enough and restricted, but something has to be done. The STT option is not feasible for the BVI if we have to maintain our tourism product. Stt pockets the taxes, taxi, and hotel profits over us. We are moving backward thinking this is what we want.
People are not coming to the BVI if we keep on dying , and as you know it is going to be the new “norm“now dealing / traveling with viruses in this extent .
Dealing with guest or tourists is one of “A “priority , but we have bigger walls to climb.. before extending the run way and bigger seating planes flying in .
Please do vaccinate, one way in the good direction , that will take the stress and trauma from the nurse and Doctors we have working hard .
I want to Thank them by this message .
We finally see the impact of having direct flights once another country can take away our tourism product due to poor airlift.
A few years ago I started using the ST Thomas route, it was much cheaper. My issue with St Thomas is the taxi drives, they seem to have a need to go deeper into your pockets and almost give off the vibe of we don't like taking the Locals, me assuming its about how much some TIP.
Tips for me is a displeasure, and its not because I don't want to tip, its the expectation of a large tip.. why tip when you got paid. I understanding tipping at restaurants and normally tip 20-30% but others who received a payment for their services shouldn't act like you owe them, especially taxi drivers who do nothing but sit on their ass and turn a wheel for 5-10mins to the airport.
So I'm in support of reasonable expansion.