LIAT Cargo and Quikpak Services has said it is “redoubling its efforts” during the holiday season to move extra bags and packages throughout the airline’s Caribbean-wide network.
LIAT’s Executive Manager of Cargo and Quikpak, Wilbur Edwards, announced that the service is already accepting and delivering extra bags, packages, presents and other personal items to LIAT’s many destinations.
“Just take your excess bags to the nearest airport location, where our staff will help you with the process and show you our very competitive rates,” Edwards said. “We offer airport-to-airport deliveries and a door-to-door service.”
Edwards also noted that the season’s procedures were designed with customer convenience as the primary consideration.
The airline is reminding passengers that it has placed an embargo on excess baggage from December 3, 2013 to January 14, 2014.
This was done, it said, to help passengers move through the airports more efficiently during the busy Christmas season.
The free baggage allowance for all LIAT services is one piece at a maximum of 50 lbs. or 23 kgs, according to LIAT.
In addition, passengers are allowed one piece of cabin baggage at a maximum weight of 15 lbs.
“LIAT will only accept one piece of excess baggage per customer and the total weight of the excess bag cannot exceed 50lbs. All excess baggage will incur excess baggage charges and will be transported on a standby basis only,” the airline said in a release.
Even if LIAT Cargo were to solve all its problems and deliver cargo to all its destinations on time and LIAT itself were to offer a reliable service as a result of its new ATR aircrafts, with on time arrivals and departures and no left baggage, there would still be need to explore the feasibility of a direct Melville Hall / Florida connection. The Melville Hall Airport before the US$40 million upgrade in 2009, had a length of 4,593 feet or 1400 meters without any Reserve End Safety Area (RESA) at either end of the runway, ending abruptly on the Marigot Wesley Road and the crumbling sea wall which provided limited protection to the road. There was no night landing and quite frankly the terminal building was a source of embarrassment. The largest aircrafts which operated from Melville Hall were the LIAT DASH-8, American Eagle ATR72, Amerijet737 (cargo) and the BAe146 four engine regional jet. The BAe146 was the aircraft selected by the short lived Caribbean Airlines and in 1994 brought the Queen to Dominica from Anguilla and from Dominica to Guyana. The specifications which the above mentioned aircrafts have in common are that they are short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft and could therefore operate from Melville Hall, even prior to the improvements recently made.
As a result of the upgrade the runway length was extended to 5,871feet (1,789m) including a RESA of 150 meters (492 feet) added to each end of the runway. Additionally the runway is lighted and a modern terminal building was constructed. It stand to reason therefore that short takeoff and landing jet aircraft can operate much more comfortably at the new Melville Hall Airport than was previously the case, and night landing is now a feature of Melville Hall. The announcement by Caribbean Island Transport, CIT, to operate a direct flight from Florida to Dominica using the Boeing737-300 aircraft is an exciting development and should be welcomed with open arms by every Dominican at home and abroad and more particularly by DASPA, the Taxi Association, the DHTA, DAIC, DDA, IDA, the Manufacturers Association, etc. The 737 has a range which allows it to fly directly from Melville Hall to any of the three International airports in Florida, that is, Miami International Airport, Fort Lauderdale and Port Charlotte Airport. There are a number of other short takeoff and landing jet aircrafts with similar range and perhaps even better suitability to operating out of Melville Hall than the 737 such as the Brazilian Embraer ERJ170-100 and ERJ170-200. These aircrafts have a capacity of 78 and 88 passengers respectively in a single class, or configured to provide a business and economy class, giving a 12% reduction in a 2 class configuration. There are also the American McDonnell Douglas DC9, the German Fokker 70, the Chinese Comac ARJ21-700, the Canadian Bombardier CRJ700, the Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 series and the McDonnell Douglas Boeing717with a takeoff run at a maximum takeoff weight of about 5,000 feet and a maximum range of between 2,400 and 3,900 miles.
The distance between Melville Hall and Miami International Airport is 1,413miles (2274km), Melville Hall to Fort Lauderdale is 1,416miles (2279km) and Melville Hall to Fort Charlotte is 1,537miles (2474km). With a major American offshore medical school operating on the island, providing direct access for students, faculty and relatives and friends is an opportunity which an enterprising entrepreneur can seek to exploit. Any such direct service would also be extremely beneficial to stay-over visitor arrivals without plunging the country into unsustainable debt in constructing an international airport at a price tag of over One Billion Eastern Caribbean Dollars, (unless of course, we are able to get an international airport with grant funds or highly concessional loans with a long moratorium).
In the event that Caribbean Island Transport does not get off the ground for any reason, it is never the less a sound proposal, and the stakeholders on island, i.e. Taxi Association, DHTA, DDA, IDA, Manufacturers Association, and most importantly Ross University and the Government of Dominica should seriously consider and support a direct Dominica/Florida link up whether by charter or by regular scheduled flights. As an alternative, a one stop in the USVI (St Thomas), BVI (Anguilla), or St. Marteen using the smaller, shorter range Embraer ERJ140 and/or the Bombardier CRJ700 is also a possibility. CIT should therefore be seen as an idea whose time has come and is well worth pursuing. CIT would complement not replace LIAT.