Night landing services to be launched soon

PM Skerrit addresses audience at Monday's swearing-in ceremony/Sean Douglas photo

Dominica is expected to officially launch its night landing services in a matter of weeks.

“…Visit Dominica in a matter of weeks for the inaugural night landing when we will formally flick the switch and open the commonwealth of Dominica to 24 hours activity,” Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit told the official swearing-in ceremony of his 15-member cabinet Monday evening.

According to the Dominican leader, the new initiative is in keeping with promises made by government.

“When we said in our manifesto that we look forward to removing the hassle of air travel to Dominica, we were not gazing into the unknown,” the prime minister asserted.

“Two weeks ago we had the first such commercial landing in Dominica, where persons boarding a flight in New York, stopped for fuel in Miami and flew directly into Melville Hall in Dominica without any incident. Dominicans on that plane literally cried with pride and a sense of accomplishment that this had taken place and will shortly become a regular feature of our civil aviation experience,” the Dominican leader revealed.

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77 Comments

  1. Anonymous
    January 27, 2010

    Dose any one knows any thing about this airport b/s

  2. Anonymous
    January 20, 2010

    Are we going to sit and wait these are lies some one tend to the farm if some one is sick so why cant we open the airport i think its wrong how you use people sir

  3. jah bless
    January 19, 2010

    ok so its been two weeks and still havent seen melivle hall airport night landing on behalf general james conway

  4. jah bless
    January 15, 2010

    they need to build an international airport

  5. Piton beer
    January 9, 2010

    Hewannora is ST. Lucia’s main airport. Please educate your selves. Calling hewanorra white Elephant when, that airport brings in 95% of the tourist to St. Lucia?. For 2008 the aiport brought in close to 500,000 passengers, when George charles brought it just over 300,000. For 2009 Hewanorra has had over a 200% increase in aircraft traffic, during a recession. So can you imagine the amount of passengers it might bring in 2009/2010 over George Charles maybe double what Georges Charles bring in. George charles see 13 liat flights a day 1 Air Carabies and 1 American eagle. Several Private jets fly into both as well, especially hewanorra. This year Hewanorra will under go several hundred million dollar upgrade, new terminal with jet bridges (Gates) to link it directly with the aircraft. You need facilities to handle that number of people and Dominica just doesn’t have it hospitals etc.

    MIA Miami AA 2220 4 weekly flight
    YYZ Toronto WestJet 2509 3 weekly flights
    MIA Miami AA 2298 daily flight
    ATL Atlanta Delta 560 daily flight
    JFK New York Jetblue 880 3 weekly
    POS Port Of Spain BA 2159 British Airways 5 weekly
    YYZ Toronto AC 969 Air Canada 4 weekly
    LGW London VS 32 Virgin Atlantic Airways 3 weekly
    JFK New York AA 2018 American Airlines 2 weekly
    FRA Frankfurt,Germany DE 7110 Condor Flugdienst 1 weekly
    LGW London BA 2158 British Airways 5 weekly
    YUL Montreal AC 1810 Air Canada 1 weekly
    YYZ Toronto SWG 754 Sunwing Airlines 1 weekly
    YYZ Toronto Air transat 1 weekly
    LGW London Monarch Airlines 1 weekly
    CLT Charlotte US 1641 US Airways 1 weekly
    PHL Philadelphia US 1079 US Airways 1 weekly.

    A white elephant having so many diff airlines and bringing that number of tourist ??? lol.

  6. DOMINICA'S HOME GROWN
    January 8, 2010

    This new development is positive to hear for people who live in North America trying to get over to DA, but what exactly happens to us in Europe, do we not count as well in terms of making use of the night landing, or are all of the time slots for night landing going to be researched to include us as well coming from this end???

    Best of luck with this!

    The first person who mentioned the hospital in Marigot not adequately maintained, I think you find that is the case with all the hospitals on island.

    The so-called parlamentary representative for the area needs to raise this issue with the appropriate department, after all that is what he was voted in to do and this is his job., instead of whinning like a little baby over spilled milk.

    Those silly backward thinking people who are saying that we are not ready for an air facility that allows us to at least have ‘night landing’ for now are really living under a rock somewhere, as DA is among the last or one before last not to have that facility, which hasn’t done us any favours in terms of attracting investors and development to our island.

    Some Dominicans fail to understand that with development there will be elements that arise with this which is not always positive but unfortunately this is life and not “utopia.”

    Anything that enhances Dominica’s positive development, and that alone, I say kudos and may all those ventures come to fruition.

    LOVE YOU DA!

  7. Anonymous
    January 7, 2010

    Let us pray for our island! More drugs are going to come in. The drug traffickers will benefit from this venture.

  8. Anonymous
    January 7, 2010

    …. just opening the virgin island of Dominica to more drug trafficking. This would be good for the island but I’m sorry we are not ready for that!

  9. precious stones
    January 7, 2010

    I think before the PM should start night-landing he should put things in proper order. First look at the MARIGOT HOSPITAL AND IT’S CONDITION. GOD FORBID IF ANYTHING SERIOUS SHOULD HAPPEN DURING NIGHT LANDING CAN THEY HANDLE IT? Mr. PM THIS IS SERIOUS, It’s great to have night-landing but are we relly ready for that. I have to take my hat off to the pilots of LIAT they are GOOD… I have CONFIDENT IN THEM… L.I.A.T.. LEAVE ISLAND @ ANYTIME BUT THEY ARE SURE. One more thing Mr. PM is the night-landing for LIAT ONLY? Cause am sure the … will not be apart of that.

  10. PROUD DOMINICAN
    January 7, 2010

    WHA T WE NEED IS A MODERN AND WELL EQUIP HOSPITAL TO

    FACILITATE OUR COUNTRY THAT SHOULD BE DOMINICA

    THAT SHOULD BE THE FIRST THING ON YOUR MIND THINK ABOUT IT

  11. PROUD DOMINICAN
    January 7, 2010

    THEY HAD TO CRY BECAUSE IF IT WAS NOT YOUR FREE TICKET

    SOME OF THEM COULD NOT MAKE IT HOME ON THEIR OWN

    I WILL NOT BE LANDING ON NO MOUNTAIN IN THE NIGHT THATS FOR SURE

    SOME OF THEM IT WAS THEIR FIRST TRIP BACK HOME AFTER 20YEARS OR MORE

    SOME OF THEM LIVE AS CLOSE AS THE FRENCH ISLANDS

    WHAT WILL YOU OFFER FOR THE NEXT ELECTION IN 5 YEARS IF THERE

    WILL BE ANOTHER ONE

  12. Thunder Horse
    January 6, 2010

    The International Airprots in the other islands are struggling to be maintained, why would we want to burden ourselves with maintainance expenses? The Melville Hall renovation was done to pave the way for an international Aiport on Dominica. All we have to do is to improve on quality.

    One thing I know is that LIAT Pilots will fly at night, it’s the only airline that we could depend on for night landing because these pilots have the balls to do so.

    LIAT ALL THE WAY TO BRING DOMINICANS HOME IN THE NIGHT, if it can be done in st lucia and st vincent well dominica here i come.

  13. US Economist
    January 6, 2010

    Hi All.

    I have been reading many posts and the need for international airports and night landings… etc..

    well as we all know, we must crawl before we can walk. For dominica to get an international airport, many factors have to be put in place before we can start to think of starting a project on such a massive scale.

    many islands who built international airports conduct their research years in advance, beging massive Public Relation campaigns to build user bases for future products. Attract outside investors and hotels to build in unison with the construction of the airport.

    To build an international airport you must first make sure you will have the accommodation for the incoming visitors. Dominica needs to build its attractiveness on an international scale. Attract visitors to the island and develop a plan to attract hotels and investors. These investments will not only bring new jobs to the island, but also free marketing, as the hotels themselves will need to advertise to fill rooms, hence making the need for an international airport more feasible

    Most of Dominica’s hotels had to be booked a year or more in advance just to make sure that there would be rooms for international cricket, this does not even include visitors who would want to come to the island either last minute or a few months beforehand.

    I have not studied this night landing project nor have i made an assessment on its capabilities, hence i do not currently hold opinions about it. However if it does turn out to be a success, this will serve as a great marketing tool for Dominica to attract future investment and in turn more airlines. In order to get more airlines to visit the island, you must also provide the passengers to accommodate their aircraft at more than half capacity at minimum.

    There will be pilots and airlines wiling to land their aircraft in Dominica once the test runs prove positive and night landing is approved safe by the FAA and meet international night landing standards.

    so the question you should be asking is not when will be get an international airport (with brings massive debt to a country which cannot sustain it’s cost and maintainance), but the question to your government should be WHATS NEXT. What will change, how will it change and what are your plans to move this country forward now that we have night landing. Will dominica be getting new hotels? Are you going to advertise our country so that airlines will be willing to land here at night, and will night landing actually bring more tourists to the island because it is now more accomodating?

    Something to think about

  14. TORTOLA BOI
    January 6, 2010

    (WELL DONE) I LIKE TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU, ITS PILOTS LIKE HE WHO HAS ..STRUGGLING FOR ALL THESE YEARS, GETTING PAID BIG MONEY TO DO … IF ANY FLEW INTO JUNEAU ALASKA DURING THE WINTER WOULD KNOW THAT FLYING INTO DOMINICA IS PIECE OF CAKE. THESE PEOPLE JUST CAN’T SEE GOOD THINGS HAPPEN. THEY TALK ABOUT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT…BUT THEY FAIL TO REALIZE THAT SOME OF THESE COUNTRIES ARE UNDER HUGE PRESSURE MAINTAINING THESE AIRPORTS AND EVEN HAVE TO PAY THESE HUGE AIRLINES TO OPERATE THESE LONG HAUL FLIGHTS. DOMINICA IS MOVING ON LIL BY LIL AND THOSE WHO WANT TO TAKE THE HUGE LEAPS SHOULD PUT THEIR MONEY WHERE THEIR MOUTH AT…OR ELSE GO ….
    PEOPLE CREEP BEFORE THEY WALK NOT FLY BEFORE THEY CAN EVEN WALK!!!!

    DOMINICA IS GOING TO GET BETTER WITH OR WITHOUT THESE NEGATIVE PEOPLE, THEY CAN ALL GO DIE CUZ THEY’RE OF NO USE

  15. January 6, 2010

    MOST PEOPLE ARE SCARED OF THE IDEA OF NIGHT LANDING, ESPECIALLY IN A MOUNTAINOUS REGION LIKE DOMINICA.. TO SHOW CONFIDENCE IN THEIR NIGHT LANDING PROJECT, AND TO RELIEVE THE FEARS OF THE PEOPLE, THE NEW GOVERNMENT CABINET, MUST BE ON THE FIRST NIGHT LANDING FLIGHT!

  16. jah bless
    January 6, 2010

    THEY STILL NEED TO BUILD THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT LIAT WONT GIVE THEM A CHANCE

  17. Anonymous
    January 6, 2010

    To all the critics of the night landing into dominica…… when the prime minister said access to 24 hours he was referring to the general hours of operation at the airport.. it no longer will be during daylight hours… and for all the smart people out there .. there are several other airports with landing approaches much more dangerous than melville hall… for night landing they planes wont be using the mountains they’ll be landing from the sea… LIKE ST. VINCENT which operates up the about 10pm at night the surrounding terrain is just like melville hall… so stop bring down melville hall.

    all the necessary equipment has been installed and for the haterz out there the staff in the airport have been trained from day 1 before dominica even dreamt of night landing…and have all received refresher courses so they’re not as dum and some may think.

    and for the persons being fulled by the international airport .. dominica by icoa standards is an international airport.. so stop fussing don’t compare word that you don’t know the technical meanings to… what everyone is crying about is us getting to the jet airport status which is not necesary right now… Hewanora is not st. lucia’s main airport george charles is hewanora is a white elephant to st. lucia except for a few days a year so dont be fool…

    yes it’s true we need airline competition but at least we have the facilities to be taken advantage of when the time comes.. for the pilot talking about a suicide mission ask him if he doesnt land into st. vincent at night and so wat’s different… just because it’s dominica… melville hall has never had night landing only canefield and it was only for emergencies… so tell him stop making up stories and talk the truth….

  18. Homeboy
    January 6, 2010

    Gwen thanks for shedding light on my ignorance..I was trying to figure out the veracity of the minister’s statement. For people who are blinded by the PM, there is a difference between commercial aircraft coming in to land at nights and chartered aircraft. The liability issue with companies such as American, Delta etc are greater and it takes alot of guarantees as well as site visits to check instrumentation on the ground, as well as the topography of the land before AA, Delta, Eagle and the others will fly to DA at nights.

  19. guadaman
    January 6, 2010

    well i wouldnt mind a ticket to travel on that first flight, please mr. pm set me up,ok on a serious note, u mean to say is coward our people coward so, or a sanbalat and tobias attitude they are demonstrating? please government get along with the business of the country and let bygons be bygons.

  20. gwen
    January 6, 2010

    The flight from New York to Dominica via Miami, wasn’t that the same flight of the RED voters for the election?

    Mr PM what are talking about and who you think you fooling? Come clean, then we will start to believe every word you say.

    Stop using your psychology on people. Most of us are university graduates too

  21. An Observer
    January 6, 2010

    READ

    An international airport is an airport typically equipped with customs and immigration facilities to handle international flights to and from other countries. Such airports are usually larger, and often feature longer runways and facilities to accommodate the large aircraft commonly used for international or intercontinental travel. International airports often host domestic flights (flights which occur within the country) in addition to international flights. In many smaller countries most airports are international airports, so the concept of an “international airport” has little meaning. In certain countries however, there is a sub-category of limited international airports which handle international flights, but are limited to short-haul destinations (often due to geographical factors) or are mixed civilian/military airports.

  22. Wise Up
    January 6, 2010

    Ok i have a few things to say…

    Night Landing…I think it would be smart to ensure that we have certain things in place first before thinking of having night landing or an international airport! In the event that something goes wrong do at the airpport (an accident occurs) is the fire station equipped enough to handle it? and the Marigot Hospital if u want to call it that? i can guarantee is not able to handle any major incidents; which means persons would have to be transported to Roseau 1 hour and 15 mins away!

    2 Can anyone confirm that landings will always be done via the sea in the night?

    3 Am a frequent traveler,and i love traveling but i would honestly not get on a plane that is due to arrive DOM in the evening.

    Now the international airport thing….what exactly is the issue with that one? An international airport would require night landing as well wouldn’t it? If yes then why put your country under this sort of strain when it is clear that it does not have the infra- structures in place to attract persons to its shore! Why not take one step at a time (accept the upgraded airport) work to inprove on the infra- structure and then move forward. Now i cam also look at it from the point of view that having an international airport would open the doors to much needed investors and developments! The challenge is which one do we take dominica?

  23. Wise Up
    January 6, 2010

    Madness!!!

  24. andy
    January 6, 2010

    Embarassed, i’ll agree with most of what you say. I think it comes down to spending money to make money; which is whet the Intl airport comes in. In my opinion, however, the country would be better off improving its infrastructure, prove to the outside that the country is properly leveraged, and then someone//company or financial institution will see that putting an Intl airport in Dominica is worth their wild. I don’t think the country on its own, and i certainly don’t think we should be taking money from every dictator in the region to accomplish this goal.

    The current strategy to me its like putting a bandage on the finger of an amputated arm. It makes no sense to even consider an international airport when we don’t even have the infrastructure or amenities that will attract businesses and people to the country.

    One can argue the chicken or the egg analogy, but this is my opinion.

  25. Mac-Arthur Haughton
    January 6, 2010

    The flights into Dominica will approach from the sea when they come into land.

  26. Criticism of LIAT PIlot Speaks
    January 6, 2010

    BimJim whose message was posted on this topic is ……….His post and very educated and informative about Caribbean aviation. But to attack him and to say his hours are wasted is stupid typical backward behavior. Are you a pilot yourself with thousands of hours and experience or you an arm chair wanna be pilot.

    …………………….

  27. g
    January 6, 2010

    Embarassed! I say the same thing, I read the headline, read the topics and then I read the comments that follow and it’s just ridiculous. Sometimes the comments have nothing to do with the topic at hand, just people attempting to humiliate the other in a silly and uneducated manner instead of sticking to the topic at hand and making a constructive comment.
    I don’t side with parties, I support my country from the outside.

  28. Embarassed
    January 6, 2010

    When Dominica is up there next to its sister islands like St.Lucia and Antigua thats when I can be proud. All of the top islands have an International airport.. Oh they all do..

    323,000 Bahamas $22,156
    1,305,000 Trinidad & T. $19,013
    183,000 Neth. Antilles $17,837
    81,000 Antigua $14,929
    279,000 Barbados $13,356
    43,000 St Kitts $10,483
    161,000 St Lucia $6,033
    103,000 Grenada $6,006
    119,000 St Vincent & G $5,615 ( St. Vincent’s International airport under construction)
    2,651,00Jamaica $5,335
    9,183,000Dom. Rep. $5,122
    79,000 Dominica $5,082
    8,528,000 Haiti $791

    The population is on the left* Edited to include population and doesn’t include all the islands

    Caribbean: GDP per capita.

    The gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is the national output, divided by the population, expressed in U.S dollars per person, for the latest year for which data is published. (see Data FAQs)

    Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database

  29. Embarassed
    January 6, 2010

    Regardless of what the uneducated say, first of all my comments don’t have to do with party alliance, I could care less who in power. All of them just bring shame to my eyes, and disgust. People coming on here read then comment on peoples comments one person making fun of another because they spelt a word wrong, Yikes grow up people, could you find no other fault in what the person was trying to say than to discredit them by pointing out a spelling error. It is these stupid distractions that have us stuck in the 70s. Dominicans need to step back, travel and see what is out there. No one knows where Dominica is, there is Tempo (a caribbean tv network) it showcases caribbean culture and caribbean music, I have never seen Dominica on it other than a Dominica flag waving in some fete in the virgin islands and a Dominican Group perform at some gospel thing ( the music was less than fair) Any how my point being this, look at all our neighbors, they moving forward.
    example:

    The Huge Success of the St.Lucia Jazz festival compared to ill managed Creole Music festival

    Don’t blame people for not coming to dominica. JFK to Dominica($1100 USD), its very costly to travel to Dominica, when its hundreds less to travel to Trinidad ($493 USD) Antigua ($413usd) with considerable less fly time. Whhhhhhyyy???????? I’ll let you go find out.

    Why would I pay more money fly longer times, and go on a turbo prop airplane to travel to Dominica…
    Why??
    Dominica’s tourism product is under developed and POORLY managed… Travel is a nightmare (please set aside an entire day or two for travel)

    people aren’t spending anymore and people are definitely NOT gonna throw their money out their pockets anymore. I’d prefer going to ST.LUCIA , Antigua, Barbados or TRinidad before coming to Dominica. Would spend the money saved on rentals, hotel and restaurants…,

    Hope this gives yall something to think of or maybe it’ll just be turned around to be a political statement. I don’t care bout Dominican politics its a waste of time.

  30. andy
    January 6, 2010

    I think people need to think practically about this. In my opinion, night landing is a luxury. It would be nice to see happen in Dominica, but it’s not necessary, and important right now.

    My last visit to D/A was terrifying, yes terrifying. At one moment it felt like the airplane was pointing straight down, I almost lost my breakfast, and almost soiled my pants. My point is: an attempt at night landings is INSANE. I certainly would not get on a airplane that would be arriving at Melville Hall after sunset.

    I think these are just campaign promises that are spewed to satisfy the strong Labourites and borderline Labour supporters.

    If the leader(s) of this party had even half a brain he/they would try to get the nation’s infrastructure up to date. It doesn’t make sense to fix your roof when your foundation is crumbling. If they addressed the crumbling infrastructure Dominicans’ standard of living would improve, unemployment would decrease, and people will be happier.

    But, like i said, they do not even have half a brain, so what i just said will not make sense to them!!

  31. Mary
    January 6, 2010

    the flight that can in two weeks ago was a chatteresd flight with thier overseas voters

  32. positive
    January 6, 2010

    We need to live that negative energy behind and move on. St.Lucia and Antigua is struggling with their international airport and they by far have more activity in their airports than Dominica. The airport upgrade and night landing is just what we needed! Give thanks for what we have. Ungratfull MOFOs

  33. Well Done
    January 6, 2010

    Time will tell. Dominica will move forward with or without the critics. Anyone who has flown into London city airport or Bhutan knows that where there is a will there is a way. Melville hall is a piece of cake to a serious pilot. That joker pilot explains why Liat is always on the verge of bankruptcy despite having a captive market. This pilot clearly wasted his hours.

  34. Piton beer
    January 5, 2010

    sach, Hewanorra is St. Lucia’s main airport. Liat doesn’t fly into there, but American airlines has 13 flights weekly into there both from NY and Miami. Then there is jetblue,British airways,Delta,US airways,Air Canada, air transat, Condor from Germany, Virgin atlantic,West jet and the list goes on. so please talk facts.

  35. Mac-Arthur Haughton
    January 5, 2010

    You have an International Airport. What you want is a jet run way. You also need to pay more taxes to pay for it.

  36. Way Papa
    January 5, 2010

    WELL DONE stop pretending. You know that no provision were made for IFR equipment at Melville Hall.

  37. Cabinet Pouwis
    January 5, 2010

    Well Done what I said is the flight that came in with illegal diasporan voters was not a “commercial airline” flifght but a chartered flight. WELL Done your analogy is so off but thanks for your less than sincere attempt. The joke is on you – “Chatered is to commercial as Roseau is to Dominica”- Maybe someone should have remained quiet .
    For your sake Well Done the government should bring back Student Companion

  38. hmm
    January 5, 2010

    DNO or any body else who is interested, it would be enlightening if we the readers could be provided with a breakdown of the costs involved in operating an international airport. Costs to the country and to the airliness. Because I know many islands who have had international airports for years and cannot maintain them.

    Some of us need to realise that airlines are in business to make money and having an international airport does not automatically assume that airlines will come to your country. We only have a high influx of visitors during independence so what do we do at other times during the year?

    Come on people, get real…do some research before we start running our mouth on DNO about international airport creating jobs and development………please.

    PS. I still think they should have escavated more on the moutains though. Still scary.

    And the LIAT pilots still land with too much speed…………..in my humble opinion.

    mm

  39. SHUFFLE
    January 5, 2010

    TO LABOUR. U CAN SPELL SO WELL THEN TELL ME WHAT WORD IS PAYED . OR PRONOUNCE IT FOR ME. U WHICH U COULD MAKE CONSTRUCTIVE STATEMENTS LIKE CHARLES. GET YRS SOME LESSONS

  40. Tortola Boi
    January 5, 2010

    Listen All you retards…Dominica does not need an international Airport, I’ve been all over the world and trust me we don’t need one. Most tourist arrive in dominica Via cruise Ships and Trust me American Airlines has cancelled majority of all Caribean jet service they only have a few jet flights to certain islands except for San Juan as we all know is American’s caribbean Hub. All the other airlines such as virgin atlantic/Bmi/British Airways who operate this long haul/international flights into these other islands like antigua/st.kitts/St.Lucia only have two(2) flights weekly.And they are definitely not gonna have a Boeing 747 fly from one of these nearby islands to drop 20 people Dominica. So my people get real!!!!!!!!!!

    As for the night landing, am not to comfortable with that. But because one or two pilots don’t have the balls to try landing in Dominica at night mean that there isn’t some well trained and talented pilots out there who are more than willing to take the challenge and excel at it.

    In other to achieve something in life you must be willing to take risks, learn from each others mistakes and provide solutions to problems. CRITICISM IS NOT THE WAY!!!!

    AND CAN YOU BELIEVE AM NOT EVEN A FRIGGIN DOMINICAN AND I HERE LOOKING SO HARD TO SEE THIS COUNTRY I LOVE SO MUCH TO MOVE FORWARD, BUT THE PEOPLE DON’T SEEM TO WANT TO MOVE!!!!

  41. sheli
    January 5, 2010

    I am no pilot!

    I have no idea what happens in front of the plane where the pilots sit. In the air I trust these people who have my life and the lives of other passengers in their hands.

    Dominica has both fascinated me and scared the hell out of me!

    Due to the mountains in the vicinity of the Airport and the constant Atlantic sea breeze there is a challenge coming from the mountain towards the sea.

    To be honest I enjoyed when Liat, American Eagle, and Caribbean Star took the approach from the Atlantic ocean end.

    I had a very interesting flight to Barbados some years ago when the present AG’s husband flew for Caribbean Star.

    I vowed that I would always fly with this gentleman anywhere in the world.

    It would be great if DNO could get the professional opinion of Mr. Royer, an experienced pilot on his views of night landing into Dominica’s existing larger Airport.

    Thing is that we Dominicans are in denial about our reality as a nation. We worry about the perception that other islands have about us and we do not want to do things in a focused way.

    The terminal building of St. Kitts might be smaller than what we have presently but their runway is long and accommodates 747 charters from Europe and their passengers take the ferry service to Nevis.

    We complain and always shoot ourselves in the foot.

    For example we were mislead that when the Army core of engineers from Venezuela was here assisting with earth works in Marigot we made a sound and dance about having a military base in Dominica.

    We made a lot of noise about pollution in the sea and environmental disaster and threats to marine life in the Marigot Wesley and Woodford hill areas.

    All these negatives were on radio and the internet.

    The true motive was that the opposition UWP and their operatives were scared to death that the possibility of having close to a 10,000 feet or i mile runway at Melville Hall would endanger their chances of a political victory and that their sole trump card political promise of an International Airport would not have been bought by the electorate.

    Thus Venezuela cut short their stay here and added a mere 2,500 feet to the existing runway and some mountain elevation lowering or a widening of the comfort window for larger planes to approach the runway from the mountain end.

    And that was at no cost to the treasury or taxpayers of Dominica.

    I do hope that the time will be soon when we realize the need to be flexible and recognize that there can be many tactical approaches to realize a common strategy. Tactical approaches are never cast in concrete. Let US PRAY FOR FLEXIBILITY AND CREATIVITY IN TAKING DOMINICA TO THE NEXT LEVEL. FOR WE NEED IT.

    Let us show some more respect to our politicians, local experts, and the aid donors decision making abilities who have taken the risk of making financing available for this Airport renovation which is not a means in itself but a means towards facilitating Dominicans and visitors wanting to get to Dominica the same day that they started their journey! The other nicecities like duty free shopping , Cambio services, naming the Airport after a Prime Minister are secondary to the primary objective.

  42. Labour
    January 5, 2010

    To way papa,

    You forget to advise Charles to go and learn how to spell properly. For example, the word is PAID and no PAYED. Charles is busy attempting to insult people but his intellectual capacity is so glaring, I just had to laugh at his entire post. hahaha

  43. SET
    January 5, 2010

    It is so funny. How ppl do not do any research then comment on the internet. So professing to experienced pilot etc.
    I challenge anyone to tell me how much earth was cleared at Melville Hall. How many feet of run way was added.
    What. Technology is going to be used. Some of these ppl come on here an act like they are just adding lights to the airport.
    They fail to mention the other work that has been done. They also fail to state that the government is working on getting other airlines.
    Let’s build our country for crying out loud.

  44. medler
    January 5, 2010

    Embarrassed for what?. What do you know? you take connecting flights in the US from state to state anyway. You have to travel on the same eagle between states, so what?

  45. jah bless
    January 5, 2010

    We need an international airport who going to fly into Melville hall on the red eye no one its not even F.A.A safe what we do need is a better prime minster some who can build the international airport and stop play games with people lives. after all that talk that Dominica needs an international airport come on mn you need an international airport. you flip the switch or push the button and get shock lol you need to wake up and build the highway to and from wesley international airport.

  46. medler
    January 5, 2010

    Dominicans! what is your problem. Have you all travelled to the US? Have you all travelled anywhere? Stop critizing! We complained about night landing, now we are getting it and you are still forcing. When will you be satistied? I wonder why! Nothing happens overnight and it will take some time and confidence, trial and error for this to really succeed. Wait and see what happen you cannot.. In the US you hop from one place to another to get to your destination. For eg. from another state going to LA you have to stop in another airport before you get there and sometimes spend many hours in that airpot. Come on ppl behave give the government a chance to perform. Not because you oppose you should always disagree. If something is good, say it is GOOD!

  47. new york
    January 5, 2010

    i really think that dominica needs an international airport cause one of the main reason that many people dont come to dominica is that the tickets are very expensive.with an international airport you guys country will develop faster.

  48. Embarassed
    January 5, 2010

    hahaha, night landing for what a turbo-prop? Still means having to fly to a country with an international airport, then get a connecting flight on a smaller, noisier prop driven plane? Wow development …. stuck in the 70s dellusional dominicans. I won’t be wasting my time I’ll stick to cruises thank you.

  49. DOC
    January 5, 2010

    Its crazy as to the amount of negative feedbacks i read on here.

  50. January 5, 2010

    That night landing is just a waste of time. What we need is an International Airport. I hope they not just trying to try to keep a promise by rushing to install night landing at Melville Hall Airport, if that is the case they will be putting people lives at stake if the area is not safe for night landing. I think is … that said they will not operate at night in Melville Hall Airport even if night landing is installed cause its just not safe. So I really wonder what are they trying to prove by rushing something that is not making ant sense…….. An International Airport would benefit in the areas of; Tourism, Employment, Economy, Trade, Business, Development and more…

  51. LIAT Airline Speaks out on Melville Hall Night Landings
    January 5, 2010

    Melville Hall (DOM), to my understanding, has had night landings before. I had a conversation with a Caribbean Star Captain who said he had landed from the sea, and there was a procedure for overshoot BEFORE THE COASTLINE. Should the crew encounter an obstacle of any kind on the runway after the Decision Point, I hope the cleanup crew have strong stomachs.

    But here the PM is talking about two completely different things in one sentence… he is saying he had a commercial flight from NYC via MIA, and he is saying there will be night landings starting in two weeks. The two are mutually exclusive, but talking out of both sides of the mouth at the same time is a common political activity.

    So what I, too, would like to see is the PM himself be on the aircraft himself for the first night landings(both of them). And I think whichever jet carrier is going to perform the night landings should come down and perform a couple of daytime trials and see just how far that carrier’s crews are willing to go – if they are willing to go at all – after they see what they are really getting into. For Melville Hall they could even come down and be in the jumpseat of a Dash-8 to have a quick look.

    Actually, you know what, on the other hand disregard that. As long as the PM, the Cabinet and the whole PM’s entourage are going to be on board to celebrate the event, forget all pre-requirements. ……………………
    And if the PM can provide free tickets up to the starting point and free accommodation while they are there for the entire Opposition to be on it too, that would be even more worth the expense.

    I retired from LIAT 15 years ago, and it was even years before that Dominican politicians were paying big $EC taxpayer bucks to ICAO, UN, IATA and other aviation “consultants” to come and tell them what they wanted to hear. If any of them actually told them the truth, nobody ever heard of it. In fact a few of them made even more big bucks in kick-backs for airport and runway lighting and other expensive supplies,

    As the Captain of a LIAT aircraft, had I been asked to land in Melville Hall or Canefield at night I would have taken the “bramble” option… started the approach overhead the navigation beacon at Minimum Safe Altitude (about 6500 feet, I believe), looked around, told ATC I could not see the airport, and continued directly to the next destination. On every occasion.

    And if I had been the First Officer, I would have enquired of my Captain at the previous stop if he seriously intended attempting a landing… and with an affirmative response I would have packed my flight bag and left the aircraft. If anyone wants to commit mass suicide, they can do it without me.

    I have had some close calls in my 13,000+ hours and 24,000+ landings of flying – most pilots with that much experience have had such experiences – but none of them have been in any way as suicidal as attempting a night landing in either DOM or DCF.

    In my humble opinion, ANYONE who promotes night landings at DOM or DCF as not only necessary but routine and suitable for a scheduled operation should be REQUIRED to be on the first jet night landing in BOTH fields.

    Source
    http://www.caribbeanavenue.com/aviation/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3694

    Caribbean Regional Aviation Network

    This is a pilot with experience not a politicians, DNO please post this.

  52. do it ure self
    January 5, 2010

    well build the international airport nah…is all wi

  53. Concerned
    January 5, 2010

    International airport would be more economical as it would open up doors for investment. Traveling to this beautiful Island is a job in itself.

  54. January 5, 2010

    it is nice that melvin hall has both ifr and vfr landing with instruments,but for the nites??and 24 hours,that will not work,winair stop going in to st,kits cause of the passengers drop,plus nite landing is more exspensive,you have to pay for instuments,lights and more plus over time for the employes,and if liat comes in late,what happend then??the landing from a dash-8 cant not pay for all those airport personell,plus overtime,its very exspensive believe me,st.kitts nevis st.maarten anquillla and steustaius all have that problem now,dut lets see how it turn out,and plus a approached plate has to put in place by the avaition dept,and a check flight must be done a qualified pilot,

    lets hope it all turn out good

  55. jah bless
    January 5, 2010

    THE AIRPORT IS A TRICK WE NEED A “WESLEY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT” PEOPLE WILL COME OVER FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD LIAT WONT BE THE ONLY ONE FLYING IT’S ONLY GOING TO BE ABLE TO BE OPEN TILL 12 AM WHEN ALL OF LAIT IS CLOSE.

  56. Listen to professional pilots not politicans
    January 5, 2010

    I have been reading what Caribbean Airline Pilots think of Night Landing in Melville Hall Airport on the Caribbean Regional Aviation Network. A user BIMJIM was a LIAT pilot and he decribes this a suicide due to the mountains. If pilots are not comfortable with it why are we pushing this concept. Politicans don’t fly airplanes, they are not qualified pilots. Its pilots who make the decision to land or take, not the control towers or governments. What we are missing is a pilots perspective on what is safe and not safe.

    DNO get some airline pilots opinions on this please.

  57. son of the soil
    January 5, 2010

    we do not need an international airport. we have too many close to us. A 747 will not land in antigua, guadlope, st.lucia or even st kitts and then fly to da it is too expensive. All we need is a longer runway, night landing and an upgraded terminal and all will be good wwe are the nature island of the caribbean so landing in the night or day will look spectuarla.

  58. youthermist
    January 5, 2010

    Whats all this fuss about night landing in Dominica. Heathrow airport London the busiest in the world starts winding down before midnight, and that goes for many other airports around europe, lets get real people, Dominica is a tiny developing economy with a population of barely 70,000 souls,it does not need to rush headlong into competing on a 24/7 basis with the richer developed world.
    Most visitors arriving on The nature Island would rather land in the daylight hours to take in the magnificent natural unspoilt scenary below, its a gift of nature that Dominicans should cherish and be proud of. Development is a slow process, it took Europe and the USA 250 years to get to where they are now, and what have they got to show for it. a planet thats dying from pollution,climate change, drought,famine, and over poputation. Thank goodness Dominica has remained relatively unspoilt and long may it remain so….

  59. Well Done
    January 5, 2010

    The recent upgrade to Melville Hall also extended the Runway from 4500′ to 6200′. in addition to adding the night landing facilities. I am not sure if IFR equipment has also been installed but if this was included in addition to the lights, the upgrade would make it even safer than it has ever been. Planes could virtually land themselves with the right equipment installed. Even with obstruction. Safety comes from the installed equipment and length of runway not the big terminal.

  60. lola
    January 5, 2010

    Not me that landing no patat Melville Hall at night! No way Hozay!

  61. positivedominican
    January 5, 2010

    Waypapa, would you please just shut up and take your defeat like a man. We have work to do in building Dominica. Stop all this silly bickering. Imported voters or not you guys would have still lost miserable and it has already been established that there is nothing legally wrong in the practice, else take the matter to court and (like St.Kitts a few years ago) watch it get thrown out. You guys are just like little babies, crying everyday. Nobody here gives a shit of what you think. We are moving forward with our development like it or not.

  62. Just giving my 2 cents
    January 5, 2010

    It seems to me that Dominicans really live up to their names- MET VEYES… what is this- any form of progress in Dominica is being met with backlash. It is ridiculous to see how Dominicans are acting on this site. Election is over, yet the people are so divided by their entrenched views and biases that it is killing my wish to return home. Dominicans should be proud that Dominica is at the stage where travel by air can now be 24hrs. Instead they are badmouthing and belittling the effort. Why not just accept and appreciate the improvements, encourage the need for more improvements instead of just expecting BREAD to fall from heaven. In the real world, change and improvements take time, but ONLY in Dominica is it expected that we get all we wish for overnight.

    GET REAL People… be REALISTIC- ROME WASN’T BUILT IN 1 DAY. It upsets me to see how Dominicans are behaving towards the government who hasn’t even started anything yet.Its 2010- work with the government, encourage them to produce, but be realistic in your wishes and what is possible and plausible.

    Work with but not against your government and if it isn’t working for you, in th enext 5 yrs make your wishes known, but until thne…. THE PM ALONE CANNOT BRING DOMINICA FORWARD…remember that- the people make a differenece….

    I’M JUST GIVING MY 2 CENTS

  63. International Airport needed for cricket matches
    January 5, 2010

    PM Skerrit, how is little Melville Hall going to be able to handle a huge influx of passengers coming down for cricket matches? Just build the International Airport and be done with it. The Prime Minister who takes LIAT away from Dominica and builds an International Airport that brings non stop flights from the US, Canada, Europe will be “taking dominica to the next level”.

    LIAT must go and once a new International Airport is built airlines like British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines, Delta, United, Continental, JetBlue can serve Dominica. Night landing can’t even bring in bigger sized jets.

  64. Friend of Dominica
    January 5, 2010

    The authorities should actually tell the people how realistic night landing is. Have all the requirements been fulfilled? Have the airlines been appropriately consulted?

    With all the recent supposed upgrades to Melville Hall, does it meet regional or international requirements? What studies have been carried out to determine that it is indeed safe to land there during the night?

    This is an inherently… Anyone who has landed there can attest to that fact. Do you expect me to believe that it is now safe to do so during the night, when the physical conditions basically remain the same. The only difference being the addition of lights.

    My simple mind tells me that there is more that is required. I too, want proper service for the country but please people let us not be fooled.

    I do believe that it can happen. The question is, has everything possible been done to ensure the absolute safety of the travelling public.

    WOULD YOU ALLOW YOUR LOVED ONES TO LAND AT MELVILLE HALL DURING THE NIGHT?

    WOULD YOU BE TOTALLY COMFORTABLE WITH THEM DRIVING FROM THAT AREA DURING THE NIGHT?

  65. Well Done
    January 5, 2010

    This is a great first step. All we need now is another 500′ into the mountain for take of and there is no need for an “international airport” as is typically defined. We need to walk before we can run. All we need to be able to accomodate now is landing of 100 seat aircraft until there is a sufficient hotel plant to justify more. No need to be building a airport for a 747 to land once a month or every 2 months.

  66. Way papa
    January 5, 2010

    Charles I don’t think your comments and insults are worthy of response for it is obvious that you are the butt sandwich of the DLP- your nose so close to the *** hole that you can’t smeel didly. I don’t care whether UWP or Freedom Party imported voters – the fact of the matter is two wrongs don’t make it right. So if you are half as patriotic Dominican as I am then you will admit that the process of importing voters some of which are not legitimate voters (even if their names are on the list) is ethically and legally wrong.

    It is my fundamental right to demand the truth from the people in government and so should you. This is not an act of disrespect Charles. Again if you bend the truth then it becomes a lie. Deal with that or be honest toyourself.

  67. Well Done
    January 5, 2010

    Way Papa, FYI – chartered is to commercial as Roseau is to Dominica. Charter operations is a type of commercial operation. It is not military. So is cargo by the way. It is better to be quiet and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and erase all doubt.

  68. john
    January 5, 2010

    there was night landing? are all the personell properly trained for this?

  69. No competition on night landing
    January 5, 2010

    … will be the only airline flying night flights in Dominica, …..has not said or confirmed they will fly at night.

    What is the point if there is no competition from another airline? … will be given the tool of Night Landing to keep robbing the ppl with sky high airfares, poor customer service and delayed flights. So where is the progress I am asking? I am not a fan of … due to bad experiences with them.

    The current will only get Kudos and praises from me when an International Airport is built and when we get airline competition to knock… from its perch with low airfares, great customer service and ontime flights. Until then the government gets THUMBS DOWN from me.

  70. chemist
    January 5, 2010

    The issue is not with night landing….even with night landing the only airline that will be landing in Dominica is liat…..so who are we fooling. The hassle to get to Dominica is still gonna be the same and just as expensive because there is no competition for airlines

  71. charles
    January 5, 2010

    to waypapa ,i realise that u are a perfect person who knows what is truth and lies. its folks like u that have no respect and pride for your country.and no respect for your leaders and so thats the reason u can make such statements. let the man alone stop politricking. every person who came to dominica to vote did vote because they are registered voters and so they have the legal rights to do so. did the dlp pay their tickets to do so? i dont know ,they may have but whats the issue? its cleare that u are uwp or fredom. but let me inform u that all party does the same. in 2005 ….and some members of his party was in st martin encouraging their supporters to come down to vote and that if they were willing their ticket would be payed by the party. stop being a fool and open your eyes to what is happening in dominica.our country is progressing rapidly thanks to the government. i support them and give them their praise for a job well done , but am not a fool if they should mess up and stop working in the intrest of the country they will be voted out. i hope u will see reason and stop allowing yourself to be fooled by blined men and women who cant see a fly in their eye

  72. Anonymous
    January 5, 2010

    well put together carbinet

  73. passingthru
    January 5, 2010

    Thats sounds like crash landing not night landing. lol

  74. Sach
    January 5, 2010

    St. Lucia has an international airport that is not even the main airport on the island.
    Good for you Dominica soon you will have your night landing. I for one won’t use it because I don’t trust those mountains but many other people will benefit.

  75. dominican in atl
    January 5, 2010

    election is done so we need to move on,stop going back.

  76. jah bless
    January 5, 2010

    STOP ..WE NEED AN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT EVEN SAINT VINCENT AND THE GREANDINES IS OPEN 24 HOURS

  77. Way papa
    January 5, 2010

    I guess…talking about all the illegal Diasporan voters. Let us not be fooled – chattered flight is what landed at the Melville Hall airport – not a commercial airline. Shoot straight … all we need you to do is tell the truth. You bend the truth and it becomes a lie.

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