Dickson Igwe is on Twitter and facebook

An aircraft leaving St. Maarten's airport.

Well Trellisman, it takes vision to make a bold move sometimes! And was it not a great Virgin Islander who once used the biblical proverb, WITHOUT VISION THE PEOPLE PERISH as his mantra? And please, do not for one minute believe that the proponents of airport expansion and runway extension do not understand the critical importance of Trellis Bay and the surrounding geography to Virgin Islands tourism.

Another blogger, using the name ‘’BUZZ BVI’’ stated, ‘’ can someone tell him’’ I take that ‘’him’’ to mean ‘’Your Curious Layman,’’ that, ‘’ the plan will not allow planes from Europe or Canada to land here.’’ To which this ‘’Back Seat Aviator’’ will reply, probably, for now maybe.

But in the coming years, the people of these islands are determined to possess the infrastructure to reach even the most remote parts of the globe. There will be further extensions and expansions of the BVI Airports infrastructure in the coming decades; that is not in dispute! And the notion that a country with an approximate population of 30,000 is too small for infrastructure of the type that allows the biggest aero planes to land is, well, absurd.

Anyway, and continuing the review of William Walker’s story, in the December 8, 2011, Edition of the BVI Beacon, and the News Contributor recognized that there was a ‘’ thrust to develop direct flights from an eastern United States hub to Beef Island.’’

However, the increasing costs, and close minded modus Vivendi and arrogance of some global carriers, means that it is only a matter of time before some of these airline businesses nosedive, considering the huge expense burdens they continue to incur! By the way, the Chinese Airlines say that they will not pay a new European carbon tax. Interesting! The Chinese appear to posses increasing clout, even in matters aviation!

Furthermore, It appears that the marketing departments of some of these big international carriers are managed by both pessimistic and anachronistic types: grey suited economists, accountants, even ‘palm readers,’ without any vision, strategic understanding, and yes, panoramic thinking: certainly not entrepreneurs and businessmen who possess the savvy and flair required in effective marketing. And no wonder a major US Airline is sinking, with that type of prosaic culture!

Now, this frequent flyer in ‘peasant class’ takes umbrage at being called a ‘peasant’. Calling others ‘’peasant’’ smacks of elitism, and using the word peasant in a derogatory manner is a simple display of a superiority complex that is surely unnecessary! Please call the majority of travelers who fly in economy, economy travelers or regular passengers: thank you!

Not everyone has deep pockets, so there! The term ‘peasant’ is derogatory to many people! It is simply not cool in certain circles and quarters, especially in the manner used in the Contributor’s article. And I am not knocking the first or business class passenger for subsidizing the economy class traveler: thank you very much indeed, sir and madam, and I am certainly not a class warrior! I appreciate your contributions towards my next long distance flight in economy!

Although I am certain that a great percentage of overnight guests, also known as ‘peasants,’ arriving in these Virgin tropics, flew in economy from their far away villages, homesteads, suburbs, towns and cities. Some flyers who can afford the extra $1500 dollars to fly business will not do so, and are simply thriftier, more frugal and wiser than posh Hooray Henries who sit happily in first class sipping Dom Perignon and chomping caviar and arugula.

And no: I am not being envious! If the richest investor on earth can fly economy, and another software entrepreneur worth billions, well so can this Observer of limited means, and very happily! At best it gives the traveler hundreds of extra dollars to spend on his or her vacation, and not using up scarce funds to pose in a first class seat. So there!

But even Mr. Walker admitted in his erstwhile article that travelers these days ‘’ do not have unlimited funds that they want to throw away for sets of services that really end up accomplishing the same thing.’’ First or economy: we all arrive at the same time, and in the same place! So by the Writer’s own reckoning, I suspect many such ‘peasants’ are actually better off economically than some of those ‘posh’ first class occupants. Decide what it’s to be Mr. Walker: an orientation to savings or ostentation by the traveler. It cannot be both.

In any case, an article in Caribbean Business, of December 24, 2011, titled ‘’Cheapflights: Puerto Rico among 2012 best bets,’’ insists that ‘’ value for money escapes will be the top trend in 2012, and this is something the Department of tourism, business people, and the Government of these Virgin islands must take into account in their policy and strategic considerations. Now may be a good time to refurbish Prospect Reef, and encourage small hotel and inn owners to get on with the programme of providing quality and economy as core commercial modus operandi.

The article further described how ‘’ the state of the economy is on everyone’s minds,’’ and that ‘’ travel remains a priority for many Americans,’’ that ‘’ deal seeking will continue to be a top hobby for the motivated traveler.’’ Furthermore, ‘’ low cost airlines Jetblue and Spirit are routing affordable fares to Borinquen Airport on the west side of the island of Puerto Rico.’’ I suspect the new thrifty flier fits into the ‘peasant’ category of Mr. Walker’s economy class traveler: enough said!

Now, this new rendition of cheap is also a feature of the Asian airline dynamic. Correspondent Andrew Thomas of Sydney Australia writing in the Middle Eastern news media, Al Jazeera, on December 30, 2011, describes how ‘’ low cost carriers are flying high in Asia as full service airlines downsize, smaller companies thrive with budget offerings.’’ This is happening all over the Asian and Pacific region. Thomas sees this development as a new willingness, in light of the depressed global economic atmosphere, of passengers, to sacrifice luxury travel for cheaper flights.

Yes, you are correct in your assertions Mr. Walker! And your narratives on the whether or not of Virgin Islands airport expansion, have to the contrary, supported the idea of runway development in this ‘’peasant’s’’ opinion. What a paradox!

To be continued...