Director of the Discover Dominica Authority Colin Piper has said the construction of an international airport in Dominica will not change how the airlines conduct business here.
He said the issue of air access into Dominica could be solved with more frequency.
Piper told Kairi’s Heng program that until the country can control the routes of the airlines, the availability of an international airport will be of no use.
“The government does not control airlines. They are private entities and they are in business to make money. From some information, Dominica is in the top five most profitable routes for American Airlines and not because of the money that is paid to American Eagle, but because Dominica is a gateway into their network,“ he explained, stating further, that the airline have been maximizing one bank.
According to Piper 60 percent of the flights coming into Puerto Rico arrive in the afternoon but American Airlines is not concerned about that.
He said the airlines have an agenda and it is now incumbent upon us to service the banks that come into San Juan in the afternoons.
“We as a destination need to go out and sell that availability to another airline and convince them to come from San Juan so that we can now attract people and get them into Dominica the same day. An international airport will not solve that,” he said.
He says an international airport during construction will boost economic activity and create jobs but there is more to the situation than meets the eye.
“Until we control the routes of the airlines, whether we have an international airport or not, it doesn’t make a difference. There will be jobs during the construction but after that it must be maintained,” he added.
An International airport will solve most of Dominica’s problem, Who said it will not have a different agenda,
and by the way tourism is not dead not dead, Mr.Grandbayespecially from the yachting sector come on people. Come on open your eyes having direct flight to your country from any where of the world open your doors to investors. yes we pay for seats sometime but hey u have to spend money to get money. We just had a yacht show and there was a lot of visitors flying in as far as Australia just to purchase a yacht, St Martin has the same event, and Grenada is jumping on the yacht business so is St Lucia, In order for Dominica to stay competitive in this harsh tourism environment they Must must have an International airport, If dominica want to become a home base for Ships An international airport is needed . So don’t be mislead by negative thinking, do your research examine the pros and com.
I’m still not hearing a solution to the airport problem in Dominica from the politicians. I work for American Airlines and it is, so….. Freaking difficult and frustrating to get a flight to Dominica especially…. since we pulled American Eagle from the Caribbean. We need direct flights from the US, Europe etc to Dominica. Not, via San Juan or Antigua. If you look at all the other countries in the Caribbean, they all are doing it just fine… except Dominica and Montserrat. Montserrat is excused, not Dominica. This is a shame!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You people need to stop arguing with each other and stand together and say something to the positions?
Dominicans dont realise that other caribbean governments waste monies to pay for international flights to fly into their countries, ask st lucia , grenada and antigua. TOURISM IS DEAD DEAD DEAD, These countries are suffering now.
This is the dumbest this I have ever heard from someone who supposed to be educated.
In one sentence: No JET LANDING STRIP leaves only LIAT .. which gives no options to more frequent flights; JET LANDING STRIP gives a wide and endless option for many more airlines to come to our shores. GOT IT!?!?!?!?
Now was that hard to understand?
Oh, and I said JET LANDING STRIP and not international airport with expensive terminals. Travel to Punta Cana and take a look at their terminal .. NO A/C! and beautiful with coconut palms in the roof.
one thing dominica is noted for alot of educated fools…wow thats how dominica has come
a so call pro speaking rubbish…
Air access is more complex than the provision of direct flights. That is very true. But an international airport, or a jet airport is needed.
When you survey the scene of what constitutes the tourism industry, it is primarily made up of people who are not professionals in the sense that they would succeed in mature markets.
We do not have any professional hotelier operations. The FYH which is the best Dominica has to offer, is at best 2-3 star. And the 3 is pushing it. The others are very mediocre. The reason is very simple. The stock has never had to significantly improve because of competition or a demanding visitor population.
The reason about hotels not going to come to dominica is a chicken and egg argument. No hotel of any pedigree is going to open in Dominica with a limited visitor population. That population is going to be improved through improved air access and routes to first world markets.
When Hans talks below about 18-20 people coming in being the priority, he is simply talking to HIS NEEDS and what others like him are happy with. It is a typical, once Im ok, the country is good as is, approach.
You cannot introduce professional hoteliers to Dominica under the current arrangements. You have to make a committment to a jet airport.
SOme answers.
1. How are you going to pay for it ?
WHy is this a concern ? Is your role to be a macro economist or to effectively use infrastructure which is put in place. Have you queried and analysed whether the money wasted at MHA was worth it ?
2. How are we going to maintain it.
Again why is this a crucial factor ? Do you not build a new hospital because of possible maintenance issues ? If that was the real argument, then why would anyone live in a bankrupt small Caribbean island, which still is less indebted by GDP ratios than a country like St Kitts. Why do you pander to the most negative of scenarios.
3. After cost / benefit analysis is it a like to have or must have.
Why would direct access be a like to have. WHo does a cost / benefit analysis of an international airport ? Governments who are usually committing the process to funding and want to support the argument. You dont see a Government doing a cost / benefit analysis and saying, well we cant do it, when they NEED it.
In Dominica we get soundbites from the man who owns the best mediocre hotel saying indirectly that Dominica doesnt need better hotels and more tourists until HE is ready.
To sum up.
You have mediocre tourism decisionmakers and marketers.
You have mediocre hoteliers
and they are the ultimate arbiters of whether they remain the status quo of hotelling and tourism in Dominica. The product has immense potential but asking these people to contribute to the discussion on improving air access and expanding the tourism sector qualitatively is like asking the wicked stepmother to comment on whether Cinderella can get an upgrade on her clothing.
You will get the same responses.
she doesnt need it
who will pay for it
who going clean it
yada yada
The Fact of tha matter is i’m not coming into Dominica on a small plane on that little airstrip in the night saying i’m on night flight, i aint lost my mind yet & ontop of that while crap going on & all kinds of crap being done saying china building roads, what the hell kind of roads i saw going on the last time i was there. Plus pay Fenton Telemaque his money for his land since every day money is being made on the airport parking lot & the man got his family to take care of.
I have read most of the post listed about the international debate and while many of you make very promising arguments for and against it. The fact is that “Donald Trump” wouldn’t come to Dominica on a Liat. No offense, I wouldn’t come to dominica on a liat. Many of my friends who have long wish to visit the island I’m from look at the… 1st long flight, your traveling for almost all of the day… 2 getting on that little plane… 3. the cost (although that has nothing to do with the airport) but for the cost of a ticket to dominica you can have a 4 day trip in an all exclusive resort including air fare in aruba, which has been advertised as one of the best vacation places in the carribbean. And you don’t have to take Liats 10 seater noisey plan. Fact is that you can put the cart before the horse, just put it on 4 wheels and ask the horse to push it, lol. An international airport makes you more marketable. Delta, Jet Blue, Continental and the other airlines you may want to market to may not have a 10 seater plane they want to fly into Melville Hall small air strip. Get the airport go out and market the island to investors from all over. People are always looking for good investments and Dominica can prove to be one of those. Get investors to build some luxurious hotels and market the island for you. It starts with access. Trust Donald Trump wouldn’t fly to dominica on liat and neither would ppl. Dominicans and a few brave souls are the only ones willing to take that flight… Expand your thinking and build the country… It is getting left behind and at a rapid rate!
Dude LIAT dosent have 10 seater Planes LIAT’S largest fleets are 50 Seaters and have carried Berris Harmond, Beanie Man, Elephant Man, Prime Minsters, American Governors and even Pope John Paul the second on hissecong visit to the Caribbean so shut your mouth overthere in your terrorist stricken land.
Soon LIAT will have it’s 100 Seater Aircrafts flyng from Newyork and Miami to Dominica, yooo tooo D FWRD. Check the facts befoe flapping your GUMBS.
BONKIER WHO PAID THE PIPER!!!
WHERE THE LEADERS LACK VISION THE PEOPLE PERISH..
It amazes me why Dominicans can always find reasons why we most accept mediocre and cant have the economical opportunities as other smaller more developed countries than us.
It pains me to say but my people are going nowhwere with that mindset, that has been crippling our country from since the day i born.
I cant believe i am from this country….
You obviously dont live here!
The saddest thing is that after all this heated debate, moving forward it’s going to become increasingly difficult to convince the populace that we don’t need what we can’t afford, what with all the ‘free’ stuff we’ve been getting from our ‘friends’. There’s an entire generation of Dominicans that have adopted, and will pass on, the idea that instead of building our nation ourselves or using these ‘gifts’ to compliment or even augment our capacity to build Dominica, we accept them as our ONLY tools to building. While, foolishly, building our nation on a fickle service industry.
There is no country in the world which has build it’s WEALTH (and I used the word wealth, not any other) on a service industry. Even Dubai (UAE) and Greece fell. So we can argue over Airports and night landing all we want.
The if-you-build-it-they-will-come philosophy only worked in the movie Field of Dreams….
Keyword: Dreams. And that movie was about baseball ghosts. We play Cricket!!!
Speaking of thinking outside of the box. If funding could be obtained to build an international airport one must consider the fact that there is NO way to lengthen the runway or improve the safety of approach to Melville Hall. So the decision must be make to not even consider Melville Hall for furthur improvements. Instead consider a new site with a phased approach. Build a new runway system to international standards that can handle the biggest jests or be capable of being expanded from a morw modest first phase that would handle the existing Melville Hall traffic and build an expandable terminal at minimal initial investment. My nomination for the location is the Warner area. Advantages:
1. Relativly flat land with adequate room for runway and cross runway.
2. No problems with approaches
3. In reasonably cose proximaty to the major population centers (Roseau and Portsmouth)
4. Relatively little relocation and noise impact consideration
I am sure readers could come up with many other advantages to this approach
But didn’t we pay for land at Londonderry for just that purpose? One would hope the site was deemed suitable before the government bought the land.
My friend ShawfordDude , that was my location for the Airport also.. It does not matter we previously bought land, its the Country we want to improve for the future… I hope to God that the Govt is doing their homework on this one…
We might argue that we do not need an international airport . PM Gonsalves encourage us not to built one, now St, Vincent is building While wevfiddle with that idea Dominicea is hurting. We need a internatinal airplort if we plan to attract other airlines. When monopoies exist we seems do do strange things.
It is not Mr. Piper’s job to decide if Dominica needs an International Airport or not. It is the market that will decide! However, it is Mr. Piper’s job to create a need that Dominica must have an International Airport and in this job Mr. Piper fails miserably! What has he come up with during his time in office?
He should market the island in a professional and passionate manner not only in North America but also in Europe and Asia. Once overnight stays increase significantly, once the current planes landing are full on a daily basis, once Mellville Hall operates at near capacity, then and only then the question of an International Airport needs to be decided. Do not put the cart before the horse!
well said tourist, i applaud your sense of reasoning, so true
What is needed is economical, reliable connecting air service to and from the hubs in the region. Maybe it is time for our local business tycoons to take it to the next level and invest in an air line service that caters to the needs of Dominica. If what is said about the unmet demands is true than there maybe a viable business in air service to/ from Dominica from/to the hubs in the region. If all our business tycoons can muster are fast food joints than as a nation we are not ready to move to the next level. Doing something like this would be a test of how astute our business community is.
wen will dominica get out of this …situation of low IQ THINKING…My God…..and these ppl wit the High IQ CONTINUE TO MAKE THESE STATEMENT THAT PLAY A PHYSICOLOGICAL ROLE IN KEEPING OUR IQ DOWN MARGWAY SA ….RISE TO THE OCCASION MY PPLL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IS GOOD FO ALL OTHER =CARIBBEAN ISLANDS EXCEPT US…
Mellvile Hall is costing us too much to maintain because the limited traffic in there. In terms of what comes in at Melville HAll, the expense to maintain it and the low traffice it makes more sense getting an international Airport where u can market your country and bringin some serious doug to the country. At least we need to get our best to go out and talk to DElta, America, Continental, Jet blue, Us Air and the list goes on. If we have to depend on Piper LIAT will all be all he can see and talk to. That is a waste because he realise he does not have the ability to convince international carriers without sneaky partisan deal. Only LIAT they could convince for $30,000.00 risk a evening landing in Melville hall. What become of us.? ST.Kitts can do it, st.Marten can do , ST.Lucia can do , ANtigua can do and Dominica can’t? What BS Piper talking? Please bro go get yourself verse on internation marketing. Or all u waiting for the chinese to build it for themself then it will be ok then? Backward thinking Domincans get my SICK to my stomarch. We always fighting for last spot and incompetence….
Some people have always believed that bigger is better and you can’t blame them…it is tough to teach an elephant to dance. Also, it is a psychological thing although the biblical story of David and Goliath was meant to teach us otherwise.
Over the last 20 years, we watched as the personal computer (PC) turned into a portable laptop and the telephone become a wallet size instrument, easily available to the masses. These two tools of technology and communication proved that it is not size or height that matters where effectiveness and efficiency are concerned.
What if we could be innovative enough to use our “small” airport to its best advantage and stop thinking that bigger is better?
Well Said!!!!
u c people like u that colin piper…….. all u a@@@ full with all kind of kick backs now all of a sudden Dominica air problems is not all u business and the PM having budget cuts…go ahead my boy talk your talk…where i am there just to come Dominica i have to take 3 planes by the time i take liat is over weight for so mr pipe…aaaa…just imagine a man coming to Dominica to diveand have to pay liat over weight f0r his gear..and the overweight is more than the dam ticket….but go ahead mr pipeaa i await u in a forum to c@@@ yr A@@@@@@@
will mr Donald trump travel on liat or eagle to come to dominica to make investment?
Why not?
Communication is the greatest success of man. You cannot build a mordern country if you are not to get people in and out fo your country. Investment yield more investment, the only way forward is to build the airport. All the hard word has been done, you are the Government finish the job.
This statement isn’t based on any research. Not that I favor building an int’l airport, but someone at that level in tourism needs to do better to convince us. Stop the mediocracity, smells of politcs!
Piper the island definitely need an international airport, Antigua make it’s name on Dominicans, in this day and age Dominica do need an international airport, ti could remember nationals from other Caribbean island saying the same, why do you think wheel of fortune and the other game shows do not have dominica The Nature Island of the Caribbean on their list of vacation for winners, think sir the island do need an international airport
Instead of investing over twenty-five million dollars to build a state palace, the Pm need to get his friends China, Venezuela, Libya and the rest to construct an international airport, international airport do bring in revenue
And while they building the airport, tell them we need a big hospital in Marigot too. Don’t forget to add a couple huge hotels because when a jet lands with 200 people we have to find a place for them to stay.
Do you notice that not even LIAT coming in full? Tell them they also have to subsidise the half full jets too to keep them coming back. Also, remember to tell them to provide assistance for cleaning up the massive environmental pollution caused by jets. Tell them they have to pay for a full fire department for Marigot too.
While you are at it, remember that we Dominicans don’t like change. So tell them we need training in customer service, efficiency, coming to work on time and doing everything on time. We also need to tell the taxi drivers to organize themselves properly and not try to rip off each other.
Tell them that while they building the airport they must fix up the whole of Marigot and beautify and clean the whole environment. We want our family, friends and visitors to arrive happy, stay happy and leave happy.
But you just said Liat not coming in full. How we going get jet with 200 people????
lol
The jet not full either.
I couldn’t have put it better.
With the right hand they slap down China, Venezuela and Libya, then they stretch out the left hand and expect help.
I like this comment… admin u must put in the feature to like individual reply comments plz
And it you get all of this “TELL THEMS” What’s nex? I know what,they might ask you yo sign over the lease to Marigot over to them. Probably, netter yet they might want in return the “TITLE” to the country. We seem to have to many smart/educated people in Dominica when it does not count, but when it counts all people can’t be foud “WOW”.
I really do not understand our people and their perception of life and development.
My first question to Mr. Piper and others, take a hard look at all the developed countries in the world. You may start with the Caribbean Islands such as Barbados, St. Lucia, Trinidad etc. Ask yourselves, do they have an international airport? A logical conclusion would be yes.
Second, why all this pessimism towards the airport, all the questioning of a possibility for development? Why not say, do international airports bring sustainable development? If so, what are the hurdles towards an international airport then tackle then one by one? Why as a people we do not want to be analytical in our planning? The same way St. Lucia has an international airport, we can have one too. Can’t we market our country whilst building an international airport? There is a lot that can be done in the process.
In short, we should start working ardently towards an international airport. The earlier, the better because things are not getting cheaper, only more expensive. Secondly, Dominica has an entirely different experience in it’s nature isle. Dominica should start focusing and marketing itself as the Nature Isle of the World. So Mr. Piper, I understand your concerns about an international airport, but I disagree with your article.
Wow, the question of air access is one that will be on the minds of Dominicans, both here and abroad for years now and will be for years to come. I honestly believe that there are many factors at stake and must make it mentioned now:
For
1. As our island infrastructure grows, so must the access. If we are to invest in hotels, conference centers, stadiums etc, access to our country and these must grow.
2. An international airport would create jobs during and after construction – significant development to our country.
Against
1. The cost of building an international airport in Dominica is extremely expensive due to the geographical constraints. The clearing of the land, banking the river, etc. the runway alone is estimated at US$250 million; the terminal could be anywhere between US$200 – 450 million depending on size. And please note the terminal is simply not the building where people come in and out, we are talking about airport fire services, terminal security – cameras, scanners, door access, security guards – all these must be of standard in order for our airport to connect with other major airports across the globe. All the tower equipment, all the instruments these jets utilize to take off and land, all these cost money that I believe we can ill-afford at this time.
2. The population of Dominica is too small to support such an infrastructure. A clear example would be St. Kitts. They are struggling to impress the market, yet maintenance cannot be ignored and is in the number of millions per year. But to be fair, we should be taking example for St. Vincent as the administration there is constructing the Argyle Intl Airport. Once completed, let us see how many jets land there.
3. The danger associated with airports. Are our hospitals and medical centers able to take on a crash if it were to occur ?(God forbid)
4. Environmental Impact. Every jumbo jet when taking off empty(no passengers) creates 30 tons of pollution. Seeing no plane would ever take off empty from our island, are we sending the right message to the Eco-tourism market by having these planes land and take off? How are we to deal with the pollution?
5. What would happen to the surrounding communities that will have to deal with the noise of the jets landing and taking off. Most international airports are located in industrial districts to reduce the affect of noise, however, in the midst of things, our airport would need to be located between Marigot and Westley. What are these communities to do? Most may decide to move or retaliate in some form.
As much as I value Mr Lewis’ point of the airport being a facilitator, to explore its true potential, the airport cannot be the cornerstone, we need conference centers, hotels – especially high capacity world renowned, and a vision to market Dominica to the world. I believe we have made a start with Cricket – the Windsor Park Sports Stadium has shifted gears for us in Dominica and we have to keep moving on forward. But the one key thing that puzzles me is FDI. I think Dominicans are fed up of foreign direct investment seeing the results of agriculture, and the layou river hotel project, however, the Government only seems to be attracting Chinese investors. Now I wonder if that was part of the MOU signed with them? Why is it that we are unable to build hotels and market our country in any significant manner? If this was being done I don’t think anyone would have problems in building the airport. I admit we need development, however I do not think it is our time to build an international airport.
Opinionator, while you raised some valid points, I think you have not fully exploited the “FOR” list, and seems you were leaning towards no international airport from the get-go.
I will just add a few of the ‘for’ to you lists:
3. Direct flights fo Dominica from USA and other major countries! (less frustration with over-nighting in Antigua, Puerto Rico etc)
4. Less problems with lost of luggage or over-weight luggage
5. Can possibly open new markets for some of our perishable goods including flowers, etc to be shipped faster and directly to the international market.
6. May attract new visitors, since a lot of travellers do not like the hassle of having to change plane and overnight when going to a foreign country
7. Increased national pride and the country’s image on the international market (that may sound trivial – but it is positive)
8. Can attract new investors – I think any major investors are going to look at access – including air access before they invest in Dominica, and right now, it is not attractive.
Note: I agree with some of your against to, but I think there needed to be some more balance, but maybe yo did not intend to be balance.
someone else may be able to extend the lists (both for and against)
People read well. ‘international airport will not solve air access problems’.
The mam never said we do not need an international airport. These are 2 totally different things.
It is called putting thought into perspective. You people need to read what you see, not what you want to think.
If you were able to put thought into perspective you would have realized that its intuitively / implicitly implied in his article that dominica don’t need an international airport.
question , why would you want it if it cannot sovle the problem especially when you can’t afford it. I hope you get the point.
Mr. opinionator,
before you talk you need to do some research. st.vincet is building and international airport costing 240 million USD 11500sqm ( 123784sqft) floor space. lets say becasue of our land topography and corruption ( as them minister will conform to the norm in d/ca) we will have to add an additional 80 million for total cost of 320m USD.
Now we spend above a 120 million for upgrade of melvinhall and planning top spend 27m for state house. thats 147m almost half the cost of a new airport. this means we should have gone that route rather than upgrade.
Now that the upgrade is done and we have exhauted our airport grants we need to source the available financing or as Pedro indicated in his comments that the governmnet can be creative and engage into public private partnership agreements involving BOOT, BOT or turnkeys operation.
Also if you really believe ( your second advantage) that the airport will lead to economic development then you should undersatnd that increase in development and growth means more revenue fro government means improving there abiltiy to mentain an international airport.
i am perplex that you speaking about plane crash and hospital. What happens if we have a major natural disaster tomorrow causing severe injuries to people: is it tat you saying unless we can respond to 60 patients one time we should not have an international airport . or that the healthservices in domnica in very poor that we need a proper hospital before an airport. i might agree with the latter.
your idea of noise and pollution. again this are cons but nto those that should deter the building of an airport. i resides in antigua for about 17 years and haven’t heard anyone got sick etc as a result of leaving close to the airport .
Finally your last point really have to do with a cause and effect situation. i am saying to let the airport be the cause for effecting the change in the other sectors ( hotels, etc) . simillarly build and airport and visitors will come .
evidence is available – antigua the international airport transform the ecnomy. most major hotels came after the fact not before. initially to attract hotel the government had to engain the italian to build royal antigua hotel.
Most recent example is St.kitts,
attracted the mariott after the fact . look at barbados economy, alot of people believe that babardos going to the iMF was a reslut of global recession cause by the gulf war but futher readings on article by professor howard and downes have shown that the massive spending by the government on the sea port and airport played a great effect , however the economy rebounded by the impact these two investment had on the cruise and stayover vistor sector ( hotels and restaurant) and today barbados is the leading destination in caricom.
Do you think that investors willcome spend millions knowing that your airport can’t sustain the type of carriage needed to facilitate the development of the industry.
I challenge the present administration to conduct a survey of all establish hotel in the caribbean on ask thses owner
1) would they ever come to dominica
2) why did they not considered dominica before
3) what needs to be inplace for them to consider investing in dominica.
3b) the most import thing thats needed before they ever consider coming to dominica.
i will cut off my right hand if 90% don’t answer 3b) stating the need for an international airport.
Ted I am glad that you have seperated yourself from the plague in Porstmouth. I must congratulate you on your decision to be objective and independent in your opinion as it relates to politics and the development of Dominica. I took the time out to recognize you because i am so often amazed by so many people in Portsmouth who are themselves educted just like you are yet these people the educated ones are no different than the kalkins, the barifters and attos of Portsmouth.
Why are we all singing the same tune – Can we for afford it…Well, we don’t have to afford it! Seriously! we don’t need to spend the money ourselves. Be innovative. We don’t have to spend a cent for building and operating the airport, nor do we have to beg for the money or sign over to China. Why aren’t any of the “leaders” talking about one other possibility – working with private (possibly foreign) investment? Government cannot and should be doing all development. But Government must be the catalyst to create the right condition and foster and encourage ideas and alternatives.
No one seems to be speaking of a Build Own Operate and Transfer possibility for an airport. We don’t have to build it. We don’t have to own it (at least not immediately). But we can transfer that risk, and the cost of maintaining – at least for a while – to a different entity. A private organization. Under a BOOT arrangement, public infrastructure assets are legally owned and operated for a defined period by the private corporation that constructs them, before being transferred to the government. This has been done the world over, sometimes in developed countries too, for example; Thailand, Turkey, Taiwan, Israel, India, Iran, Croatia, Japan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, Egypt, and a few U.S. states, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Closer to home, such financing is being done in Trinidad. Several institutions including FINCOR have been going into such ventures.
For those who may not be very familiar with BOOT and BOT arrangements, here are some details:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Build-operate-transfer
I am not saying it is something to just jump into – we have to study this closely – but real leaders, should think out of the box and not be closed minded, singing the same tunes. There are too many nay-sayers out there, who do not think of possibilities in the business world. Has the government put a feeler out there to see how feasible it is to have a negotiated BOOT arrangement for the airport? I have never heard one person from any administration mention this publicly.. Yet it is a common happening in the world of business and major capital investment. Maybe it will prove not to be for us. But can we at least engage about it, perhaps even consult on it?
Of course any private entity going into that would do it for its interest and profit, but the island could benefit greatly. It is likely that the business deal could also result in a five star resort in conjunction with a hotel chain, and perhaps a golf course too. Obviously any investors for such an enterprise would have done their homework to guarantee certain minimum volumes to make the venture profitable.
There are merits to looking at the operational cost, but in that case we can pass on that burden and risk. The question will always remain: do we take that risk to get it done at minimal cost or wait until we think the time is right, at which time we may not have the more desirable financing options? See what St. Kitts has done. It is definitely a chicken and egg situation (do we wait for people to have a demand to build an international airport or do we build one so we can show its easy to get there), but the risk to Dominica can be minimized with a properly negotiated agreement.
Its not does not have to be strictly on the backs of government or the people. There has to be more private-government partnerships. Not only that, the government needs to open itself to creative and innovative ways of getting things done and being world class without a major burden to the populace.
Would like to know what others think about more innovative options to burdensome problems!
pedro i agree with you 1000% couldn’t have said it any better
ok then when those investors start putting in higher landing fee’s with the price of fuel these airlines will still not want to come
While it is understood that Goverment does not control airline routes, if an international airport is built, new opportunities will be created to increase commercial passenger airline traffic into Dominica, particularly, from North America and Europe. The presence of an international airport will also create opportunities for new hotel development and development and expansion of new and existing industries such as financial services, cut flowers and other agro processing, light manufacturing to name a few.
Currently only two regional (2) airlines, American Eagle and LIAT, operate schedule flights to and from Melville Hall Airport. On the contrary, there are currently ten (10) airlines operating schedule flights into Hewannora International Airport and two (2); American Eagle and LIAT into George F L Charles Airport in Saint Lucia.
Dominica has a product that is sought after by the international Eco-tourism market. However, many of these tourists will not visit because we do not offer convenient same day travel and neither do we have majr flagship hotels like the Marriott and Sandals.
Once an international airport is built economic opportunities will be created. I believe we recognize that an International Airport is a capital project and the destination will not be able to pay for such a project right away but it will certainly solve the travel woes of persons wishing to visit the Nature Island of the Caribbean.
The premise if you build it they will come still stands…because international visitors continue to look for upcoming destinations.
By the way isn’t this the same Colin Piper who served as Director of Corporate Services at the then NDC who was pushing for INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT for Dominica during the UWP term of office in government. Why the change of heart???
” International airport won’t solve Dominica’s air access problem – Piper
May 30, 2011
Director of the Discover Dominica Authority Colin Piper has said the construction of an international airport in Dominica will not change how the airlines conduct business here. He said the issue of air access into Dominica could be solved with more frequency. Piper told Kairi’s Heng program that until the…”
There is something known as ” intelligentsia ” defined as intellectuals who form an artistic, social, or political vanguard or elite grope!
If we strip the word intelligentsia, out of the equation: what do we have left?
What is left is term elitism, or in my opinion where it pertains to our country; black Dominicans who in the twenty-first century maintaining their bourgeoisie mentality, and believe that they have all authority to dictate to the rest of the nation into what direction the nation should head.
Such pompous, and backward people go to sleep at night, and concentrate on every little bit of backwardness, that if we follow to their thoughts and ideas, Dominica will return to its fourteenth century status.
People like this has lost every sense of reason, and because they have become so self-centered, they seem to have shed their commonsense, and like piranhas they feed on some sort none existing frenzy, outside of reality!
Any Dominican who insinuates that more frequent flights into and out of Dominica, based on small carriers such LIAT, and the likes will solve our problem, of effectively getting into and out of Dominica, is absolutely not in their natural mind; they are not existing in modern times, such people are intellectually bankrupt, and are simply blowing off steam, like the carbon dioxide gas with a foul odor that some humans, and animals dispensed.
Like a phantom in the night they come looking for some type of recognition from the fifteen minuets of fame afford them by some Radio Station, or what DNO afforded them.
They are so self-centered, as long as their thoughts suit them, and their friends, and their purpose; all will appear well in Dominica.
Their ideas and thoughts are designed to benefit only a chosen few, and in this case, whereas they already devised a plan, to sucker the government into creating this so called National Airline, I believe all he is doing is disgorging all of this useless, and unfounded rhetoric, hoping that he will find support from those who are as backward, and gullible like him.
Check it out, and you will most probably find that all the so called unemployed pilots in Dominica, are behind him, and his stupid plan. These so called unemployed pilots in Dominica, are guys who lack the qualification, or skills to sit in the cockpits of any aircrafts where they utilized instrumental flights only.
Some of them are not qualified to even fly the aircrafts operated by LIAT.
If all you can do is visual flights, you will remain unemployed forever, unless you create your own airline in Dominica, which will be destine for failure as all the others which has come and gone if your flights, covers only the Caribbean, and even at that success is not grunted; a review of the Red Jet situation will give an idea, of what they may have to deal with.
Some honest Dominican need to advise that guy that all he is suggesting, all he has suggested have been tried before, and did not work!
If his theory was correct, he would not have had the oppertunity to babble about it in the twenty-first century, since “we already been there, done that ” from the inception of the Melville Hall Airport, until recently.
Every once in a while some pseudo intellectual crawls from under some rock, with some foolish talks and ideas, which if implemented will serve no other purpose than to set the country backward. Any sane person who knows how the tourism industry works should realize by now the lack of an International Airport in our country is an obstacle in the way of development as it relates to the tourist industry, and the nation in general.
Under very difficult circumstance, the tourist industry in Dominica has come a very long way. We have done well, thus far, however, we could have done better, if only we had an International Airport operating on the Island. We need to be reminded, that Cruse Ships visits Dominica, seasonally, and spends no more than eight or nine hours in port.
When people decides to fly into a country on vacation, they usually spend a minimum of ten days on their vacation, by which time it is expected that they will spend more money on the island, in hotels, food and entertainment, the revenue generated by visitors, coming into the country by air will always exceed that which is obtained from visitors by Cruse Ships.
I can prove that if I have to!
Some people need to put on their thinking cap, before they start babbling nonsense, I personally analyze any important decision I have to make before I make my final decision, and because of that I do not blunder too often!
Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
Ah this is a very educated thought. I’m in total agreement. There are logically challenged people in our country and unfortunately some of them are decision makers.
You fool, the only thing you good for is to call me a Moo-moo, and you do not even know how to spell that!
I am going to come to Wesley, and flush you out, you little weasel, and you are a green weasel too, that is why you post your green face, with your horse teeth, so that I can know who to look for when I get there!
You idiot!
If you do not stop bother me, your King, next time I will not only call you a little weasel, I will call you a dog!
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!
Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
I dont believe Mr. Piper ever said that Dominica does not need an international airport. I believe he is trying to highlight that there is an air access problem, and before we implement the programme for an international airport we need to look at all the contributing factors that will impact its success which is mainly ensuring the issue of Air Access control is dealt with. We merely look to understand and quickly misconstrue hence making foolish comments and cause disruption.
Alec Sanguinetti, Director General and Chief Executive Officer of Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association, spoke about the shortcomings of regional air transport at a press conference in the BVI on the 25th May. Virgin Island News On Line carried the story and the link is as follows:
http://www.virginislandsnewsonline.com/news/low-cost-carrier-to-boost-tourism-liat-is-not
What he said is relevant and makes a lot of sense.
WHAT did you say Piper? you must be joking, give us the results of you research, and you heading a a festival commitee(sp)
MR. PIPER
i am very happy to know that you have the time to read the comments on DNO and that you would have notice that over the past month there have been a hug outcry by bloggers included my self , for the government to seriously consider the development of an international airport.
I am just amazed sir, that someone like you who are direclty involve in the devlopment of this sector would publicy state that dominica does not need an international airport.
Sir , your main concerned is the cost of mentaining or servicing the loan after the airport is build . This is where i see that you have absolutely no knowlege of economis or public policy and your employers should reconsider your portfolio.
Sir, A few years ago the government borrowed from the french Administration millions to do some roads ( you can check the records ) . My question for you is simply . Can these roads payback or generate enough revenue to mentain themselves.
The answer is Simple NO. However in terms of development roads play an important role of easing the mobility of factors of production and for the distribution of output . Thus having more ( better) road leads to a reduction in production cost ,hence an increase in productivity.
Mr piper, the same could be said of other infrastructural development taking place in dominica such as building a school . We build shcool to educate and train our people , which according to solow, improve ecnomic growth and hence living standard.
Mr. PIPER
Asset such as shcools, roads, sea ports , ariport, hospital etc need not be able to DIRECTLY finace themselve because they are considered to be FACILITATORS of economic development.
Have you ever wondered why dominica is listed as one of the top three if not # one eco tourist destination in the world but we have yet been able to attract a reasonable percentage of that market share .
Have you every wondered why over the history dominica , its unable to attract the type of FDI that would generate sustainable development in dominica.
Mr. Piper,
Building that international will lead to sustainable jobs even after the airport is finished, more taxis driver, more security workers, more airlines, more desk at the airport and travel agencies means more workers, more baggage carriers, more immigration and customs officers, more cargo in and out, means more Vat collected, environmental levy and service tax and duty , more visitors means more embarkation tax , higher collection of hotel taxes( guest levy , occupancy tax,) higher vat collected from hotel also, more landing fees, more refueling of planes at the airport and taxi’s means more collection for governmnet on the taxes that they have on fuel , more shops rented at the airports and etc . these are just some of the direct impact of the airport and when you add the mutiplier effect of these it means , more growth and more employment and hence more consumption all resulting into higher revenue to governmnet. That increase in revennue will then use to service the loan to build the airport.
The airport also have some indirect impact , such as encouraging the development of the hotel and restuarant sector. With the air access , we can then convince hotel owners that we are serious about our tourism product and hence the government through the investmnet authority will dvelopment a nice pakage ( duty free concession, tax free holidays , easy lease access etc) to entice investors to come build the necessary hotels need to sustain the sector.
again we will see a boost in the constrcuction sector, when completed we will see people employed as chiefs, kitchen stewards, gardener, driver/ messenger, receptionist, accountants, pastry chiefs, cleaners of rooms, and etc. one three star hotel employs betwwen 70 – 100 workders in Antigua. Thus the development of the hotel sector will provide for the necessary backward linkages thats need to supplement the argricultural and fishing sector ( providing fish, vegteables ect to hotels) and forward linkages for the development of our entainment sector.
All these indirect impact will result in higher economic acticity hence more revenue to governmnet which could then be used to service the loan to build the airport.
Anyone fails to see this would have to tell me one reason why if we get an international airport it would not lead to more visitors hence more airlines AND NEW HOTELS , in dominica..
I WAITING ON YOU MR. PIPER AND THE REST OF THE BLOGGERS WHO ARE PRETENDING TO BE DUNCE FOR POLITICAL REASONS.
who care’s if you fex.
good train of thought it is said the euro tunnel may never be profitable but it’s impact on economical devolepment on the countries it serve is worth the building of the tunnel
For the record, I am not Colin Piper.
But in response to your argument, an under-utilized airport is as much a waste of money as is an underutilized road. Ask the Japanese about building airports that stand as white elephants today.
In your haste to put your position forward, you failed to see that I did not take a position one way or the other regarding whether we should build an IA or not. My position was very clear – take the emotion out of whether an IA should be built. Be guided by a solid business case. If the analysis supports building one, then by all means let’s do it.
Lewis you must now ask Antiguans why they were laid off?
Whilst at it you must also tell us how fragile is this industry and the negative impact it can have on employment with little or no notice, and by the way we are the #1 Eco-tourism destination in the Caribbean.
Nature lovers are not fussy about IA they just want same day connections and that is what the improved Melville Hall airport will provide for them, access is the key issue as Piper so eloquently suggested.
It is not enough to stand on teh sidelines and shout we need an international airport (or we cannot afford one). In order to make such a statement, there ought to be studies which tell us the following:
1. First and foremost, do we need it to move us ahead?
2. How are we going to finance it?
3. How are we going to pat for it, once it is built?
4. How are we going to maintain it?
5. What is the cost of maintenance?
6. After the cost/benefit analysis, is it a “like to have” or a “must have”
7. There are many more questions that can be added here………
All I keep hearing are people in two camps, who without having the numbers to back up their positions, dig their heels in and will not listen to the other side.
The government ought to do the study or if they have already done so, bring it out in the open.
Many times some things seem very obvious until the figures come out to disprove long held beliefs.
Thanks Colin for a clear statement and position.
We don’t need an international airport.
For me as a hotelier it is very clear that we need more options to bring tourists to Dominica but let’s stop the discussion about an international airport. Even the discussion is a loss of time and energy.
We need Dominica Air, a small company with 2 to 4 18-seater planes to connect to St Lucia, Barbados, Antigua and St Maarten. Make sure the schedule of the flights is optimum to pick up and drop off passengers from and to the flights to the main American and European connections.
Is it really so difficult to see that this is the only sensible and affordable way forward??
Untill we have far over 1000 exportable, certified hotel rooms it is nonsense to even talk about an international airport.
I agree 100% Hans.
I think Dominica Air should be a conglomerate company where all of all you hoteliers come together and invest in these aircrafts..
The Private sector needs to step up, re-invest their profits to get more and bigger business, stop relying on Government, if a Marriott should ever come to Dominica Motels like Sutton Place and Garraway may just shut down, you know why?
1. They have more rooms including modern conference rooms
2. They don’t rely on Government to promote the destination, they do that themselves, they convince the travellers that this is the best island they must visit and whilst there they can stay at their hotel.
You can ask Sugar Bay Resort in Frigate bay St Kitts (a 100 room hotel, the biggest in St Kitts before the Mariott came in) what happened to them when the Marriott commenced business in Frigate bay!
So Hans start encouraging other hoteliers, put all you finance resources together and purchase these Planes, it will be better operated and managed by the private sector!!
A very sober and realistic assessment. This would certainly have an immediate impact without the heavy capital investment and operating costs of another airport. We could even lease the aircraft, wet or dry. Let’s fly with it!
Hans….. Reality check
When these tourist reach in antigua, st lucia they will go sandals, blue waters etc, not jump on a next little plane to go dominica and sleep in a apartment building called a hotel. The way we want to benefit from tourism and the reality of how the tourist business is, are totally different. What is really our problem here as a people?
The best way to see what works in tourism is learn from countries that have done and been successful in tourism. And impliment those policies and programs. Not sit in an office and come up with what u think will and will not work. Learn from those who have done it, is till doing it and being successful at it.
U of all person as a businessman hans should know that….. Unbelievable
1. having an international airport doesnt mean that an airline will immediately have direct flights from the US or UK to country.
e.g to this day British Airways stops in st.lucia before landing in T&T and does the reverse on return
in addition some flights only go certain days a week ( e.g in Barbados)
2. yes it is true that our neighbouring islands have int’l airports, but you have no idea what is takes to maintain one after it has been constructed.
having an int’l airport is not going to solve the problem overnight, there’s a lot ground work to be done.
Nonesense Mr. Piper, stop the excuses with the infrastructure in place then we can be more marketable in being a hub, our geographic location is already going for us.
This is an interesting stateent Mr. Piper because you have a point. What people fail to realise is that Dominica would be the last country in the caribbean to have an international airport. I am not comparing the very tiny islands like Barbuda but Trinidad, Grenada, Barbados, St. Lucia, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Antigua, St. Kitts and the list goes on. We will now be jumping into the race ass first. We do not have the necessary infrastructure to back up an international airport. You cannot bring people here and then ask where are they going to stay, what road will they travel from the airport, how far will they have to sleep if overnighting? Have we ever been to the other islands to see the traffic at the airport? Some of these airports are busy for only a few hours!! For the majority of the day, the airport is closed!! What use is an international airport if it cannot generate the necessary income to repay the huge loans?
Ask yourselves, how may Dominicans travel and how often. Not even business people can afford to travel that frequently. The only person who would enjoy those services is Medard. I am not against development but you need to make smart decisions. We cannot afford a white elephant. As Mr. Piper says, get the traffic,market the destination, make people know of Dominica and then we can use that income to base our spending on.
hold on.. people are missing the most important point, there are available banks from which flight between dominica and puerto rico can operate. how about RedJet.. or crazy to even mention LIAT, let’s face it, it is guaranteed cash flow for any firm flying that route.
Dno is biased,y censor my comment I am the truth of the nation,I am the voice of the oppress ,I don’t take cocaine so my blood not blue,so I don’t promote blue blue
Melville Hall is a small airport and it is underutilised – not enough flights coming in. What would happen with an international airport? Where would the planes suddenly appear from? The day we see planes arriving and leaving packed with people and so many flights that the planes landing one after another, that is the day we need an international airport.
Sir! Melville Hall is th reason why the planes are coming empty so if we dont build our international airport, the planes will never come full.
Is this the brains behind Invest Dominica?. Shameful i must admit. Your logic is all flawed mr. piper. Lets consider our sister island St.Kitts. American has weekly flights to miami form st kitts why? St. Kitts has expanded its tourism industry, to include internation hotel chains and this justify among others that the need for direction connections to the US. What has dominica done in the mean time- have 2 X4 houses wel call hotels, no name brand, nothing. What have you done in your role as directior of invest Dominican to advance the tourism sector?. I guess people like u all can only think about paint-a thon for roseau.
i SHOULD TELL YOU B4 I PROCEED that you are in no position to make this judgement call. U have no expertise in this area and worse, u seems to be in tune with the music of your master.
I am baffled that in 2011 that domincans still admit that the country does not need an international airport-.those who opose the idea say that other islands are not doing weell. But the logic is people , th ey have it and that in itself is the greatest potential for growth.
Lets rethink that mr. Piper-if dominica could talk it would say to you, GO TO HELL.
rEAL VOICE FROM THE WILDERNESS
Voice, you are on target. It mystifies me that people who are suppose to make a difference, have no clue, no creativity and need to be behind a desk in a cubicle grinding numbers.
Given the large numbers of experts who have answers for challenging projects, it’s incredible that Dominica is not the beacon of the region.
THIS GUY SEEMS SLOW IN A TIME LIKE THIS TO TALK SOME CR**,WE KNOW WHERE DOMINICA IS HEADING WITH A BUNCH OF TEBEH AT THE HEAD.
Dr.Smash and Voice from the Wilderness ( I mean really voice from the wilderness) you have said it all. I support your statement one hundred percent. With voices like you out there, there is indeed hope for Dominica.
I think Mr Piper knows what he is talking about, he didnt say we wouldnt get one evuntually, but u have to know u can take can meet up with its demands and be in a position were it wont only be breaven even
Building an international airport is irresponsible…..these things dont just happen….unlike statehouses and stadiums, they actually require some sort of sustainable plan.
It is very difficult and costly to maintain an international airport….and even more so one where no travellers are coming thru. There are other international airports in the region that are now a huge burden, Grenada….St Lucia for example. International airports serve populations, not threes. Two-Thirds of this island is trees….and we scarcely have enuff money to pay our VAT as is….u really want another 3-5% added to that to cover an ill-advised move of this magnitude?
Grenada and St. Lucia have been doing much more than Dominica in terms of publicity to drive tourists to these islands. They have brand name hotels and I know we complain that Dominica’s landscape prevents any development, but you drive in these countries and you cannot help but notice that the landscape is not that different and still they are years ahead.
Putting aside all the talk about airport and what the govt isn’t doing for Dominica, without a strong population we are just stuck
Mr. Piper is the fortunate owner of a cool head and he makes sense. You do not make a huge investment without first also making sure that there is a market to give you a payback! Even our existing Melville Hall airport is not cost effective with the traffic we are able to generate at present.
NONSENSE
Well to one point that inter airport i dont think it would be needed i think one bigger than the one we ,have rite now would be just fine just more modern.It takes alot to manage an inter. airport STT have a semi one wich only half is in use,and they have more traffic than dominica,now when i was leaving after carnival i heard one visitor on his phone saying that his room was bigger than the airport,i would say build half and in the future with more traffic we will expand.
The same BS we’ve been hearing for the last 30 years. Interestingly places like Lucia , St Kitts, Grenada, St vincent , Antigua have all built an international airport. Obviously Mr Piper is singing the tune of the people in government. It is obvious that our biggest set back is our failure to act. The above noted islands were able to move way ahead of us only because their international airport facilitiy.
Mr Piper seem to be young and naive and my assumption is that mr Piper has not gone through the test of time to even understand why we are where we are today. As I’ve always said Dominica need people with revolutionary ideas at the forefront. The so call leaders and those who pose as pundits in the various areas are just to happy with their monthly salaries and over blown reimbursements for suspicious expenses
What is sad is that every election these politicians promise and international airport and the people shout yeh yeh yeh. The lame DLP administration told us that what we need is nigt landing and after 120 million dollars the only night landing we’ve had is a charted liat plane costing tax payers approximately 65 thosand dollars for a round trip voyage from Atigua to Dominica.
While we are praising and harboring lies, corruption and praising a reckless PM and his main advisor tony astaphan the country is going down by the ” Lache” and we have been the laughing stock of the caribbean
Exactly….wud u really rather then that we spend a Billion….build the thing and still have nothing coming?….No one is frothing at the mouth to fly here….and until we can make that happen, what we must sell is our exclusivity (that’s a page piper cud read)…..the ppl who come here have to want to come here!!!
dominica is full of pagans ,that ignore the people suffering ,but we building state house wen it have people hungry ,y not feed the hungry,give homes to the homeless, give jobs to the jobless
You forgot to include Grandbay or Bath Estate Shatta. What happen to you Shatta are you looking for another punching bag?
who will be building the state house? the unemployed dominican
This is not the real Shatta.
I know, maybe he did not take his medication!!!!!
Mr piper does make sense
some other islands having a tough time running their international airport…
look at our population in some island one town have our population.
That is what i saying our population is too small to really sustain any development. We need to create jobs, and opportunities to entice people to come and live in Dominica, and those who are here to stay. Problem number one is our small population relative to country size. Some of these other countries, half the size of Dominica have populations twice as much and they still want more people.
We could probably do with a jet airport and better facilities, that should do.
is true, colin, is true!!!!
But everything that is ‘incumbent’ upon us…………..let us DO it and stop talking……..
p.s. you are a cute, fine, handsome man
Meh ey amass nom!
@for real …
What?? Are you scared that the flippant , too often repeated mantra that “Dominica needs an international airport in oder to increase tourism” might, in fact, be wrong? No one that I have had a face-to-face discussion with on this subject has ever been able to take the international airport argument to a logical conclusion. Piper is 100% correct. And if you look at the thing for more than 5 minutes you will see he is. What %age of people who actually what to come to DA are put off by access? If you reverse that % with an international airport, is that number big enough to a) convince airlines that it makes financial sense to put a route into DA and b) provide us with the funds to pay for it? The answer is no even if you market to your fullest extent and is likely to remain so for generations to come.
that night landing is nonsense we need an international airport , the government only care for themselves and not of the country where the people are dying of hunger,worst than haiti ,blue blue , comes from ,cocaine which turns the blood blue ,
Shatta, you’re an idiot!! Please shut up!!!
Don’t do that….dont take my chat name and say stuff that have nothing to do wit me…..you can use any name u want dude….!
Actually he does make sense, especially when it comes to the money and control part.
The solution is boat travel…….all the way from Puerto Rico to several of the outlying islands including DA.
Dem Taxi operators were right about mister. I guess mister could never work in St.vincent, good job ralph build your airport and leave these people in the stoneage.
to me mr piper does not make sense. if we want to attract ppl, you well need the international airport and then you do the necessary negotiations.
I agree
Im sorry, you dont build an international airport and then do negotiations. One cant inject that amount of money onto a project without knowing the expected returns, its called a Cost Benefit Analysis. Having an international airport and not being able to secure sufficient international airlines to come into the island with prove disadvantageous and white elephant will be on our back.
I guess the same applies to the construction of a night landing facility when not even the only airline serving Dominica was on board with the airport development. I believ in the concept build it and they will come. While we await their comining we will build momentum attract hoteliers, attract , offshore companies with our potential. At this point our propensity to attract foreign interest is almost non existent. Hoteliers who expressed interest in dominica took their business to St Lucia or st kitts.
You talk about cost benifit analysis while we support the negative cost benifit ration for the 27 million dollar state house. Before you respond remember it was the same government ( timothy for example) who told us that the state house would generate revenue through conferences every 5-10 years and revenues through the tourism appeal that mAY be generated by the state house. What a joke.
While the government is unable to find the route or driving directions to the next level the dominican people themselves have no idea of what it takes to get to the next level.Apparently while other are using high efficiency vehicles with GPS navigational system to get to next level land our government is still seating on the back of a doney
Mr Piper makes sense, he is saying that we need to secure the market with what we have first then we can talk about an International Airport. There is night landing coming shortly, in that way the Airlines will be forced to operate flights into Dominica to ensure that the passengers are not inconvenienced.
Lance
you real dunce . if planes don’t come in the day would they come at night ?
Secure a market with what we have? Child what we have is no different from what we’ve had since 19 wheever and we are yet to secure any market or boutique. Use you head not your party political emotions and think rationally. How do you suggest we secure a market- Oh I know the 27 million dollar state house will attract visitors. Sakway sort qui zort yeh