St. Lucia’s Tourism Minister is expressing concern that the airlift agreement between the Government of St. Lucia and American Airlines is impacting negatively on the country’s economy.
The St. Lucia STAR quotes the Tourism Minister Lorne Theophilus as saying that “the current deal with American Airlines “cannot continue.”
According to the Star, “Theophilus noted that the agreement made between the last administration and American Airlines has plunged the country into debt.”
every one keeps talking of bums on seats that’s not all a plane is for i live in east London and where i buy my provision i know for a fact they buy their dasheen from st.Lucia i know Jamaicans who ship provisions out of Jamaica who regularly and they don’t use boat some have personally ask me about getting provision from Dominica so outside of tourism there is an agricultural market waiting for Dominica quality dasheen yam breadfruit and so forth and has anyone taken a look at a map of the Caribbean and see how central Dominica yet we are not playing the role of middle man
I believe and international airport can make or break a government here in Dominica, like the saying “damn if you do damn if you don’t”. All the past governments spoke of it, even made it look as if they were about to do it but i strongly doubt that they would have. It seems to be a very serious headache to all past and present governments but am sure if any of them could have done it successfully would. The governments knowing that uses this international airport thing always as political campaign strategy just to win elections.
So St.lucia has an issue with one airline and thats is enough not to have an international Airport? So the deals are ok with Delta, Continental, Virgin ATlantic, British Airways, Jet Blue and the list goes on…..Tell then to stop the other airlines and they will see what ST.Luciians are made of.
We have 2 airports in D/ca that costing more to maintain than St.Lucia International Airport. We think we have a deal with LIAT 50 empty seats 2x a day 6 days aweek. How are our hotels to survive on that? How are we to generate employment when LIAT cannot gaurantee us a full flight in a day? The Taxi men must be suffering……The poor man cannot even think of building a guess House cause he will soon have to claim bankrupcy….
Our 2 dead airports with the over expensive fares are like a rope with dead weight around D/ca neck. The 27million palace will even cost more to maintain that the InTL Airport….we are operating like we in 1812….BACKWARDS!!!
WELL SAID….Some to see an IA as be all,end all with a profit and lost statement in the positive. Yet again lack of vision and broader horizon to see that the whole of DA benefits. An IA is part of the infrastructure like a bridge or road. Should we stop building them because by themselves they will not make money.
Visitors/Investors want is quick access to their destination at the least cost to them, NOT TRAVELLING AROUND WORLD TO GET TO DA and losing their luggages in the process. Those that do not travel out of DA will never understand.
People should look at the data to see the before and after construction the IA in St Lucia to see the difference in passenger numbers. People have lots of options for holidaying and given the choice between DA and St Lucia where do think they are going/will go.
building an international airport was only a political ploy by the uwp we all know that such a white elephant would pose a burdensome financial strain on our already strained financial resources.the way to go are many more flights by LIAt and other airlines which operate the same type of aircraft Our tourist industry is not yet fully developed to accomodate these airlines
Mr Eagle eyes, mathematically speaking it is more expensive to have a stop over.In many cases you take a different airline with its own costs. Imagine leaving possey going to Roseau and changing buses in Dublanc, Salibury, Mahaut, and Canefield. You surely going to pay more than $9 ec.
if there is an example please tell.
I have a question, If your neighbour takes a loan to invest in a venture and he collay should you give up on taking a loan? Boss I tell u all these countries with international airports have things much better than us. Tourists go to places where they know that they donot have to spend half of their vacation travelling. Persons who come to Da really wanted to come.It’s just like a pelewinage to Da. In 2012 come on! Connecting to liat is so expensive. And to tell you the truth when liat on go slow dominican flights are the first to be inconvenienced.All these countries are looking for themselvesand they have us like pappy show. Do they really care? And honestly if we had an int. Airport Dominicans would be able to come home more often. The sad thing is that da pretty close to the US but it is like as if we are in the middle of the Indian Ocean . Alot of money was spent on the airport recently. Man the greatest is that carousel in the airport, it’s the size of a large table! We just do things vi ki vi. Lengthen the strip further into the sea. We can get all rocks while we straighten those chemin cochi that we refuse to do anything about.
In this time someone should be able to reach da from anywhere without so much hustle.
And in the states connecting flight is from one int airport to the next in the same country.We just make excuses that’s all and let those who we put in charge tell us foolishness and accept it!
I am glad to read those comments and to see what happens to St Lucia raises the question from the Dominican’s pro so called International airport.
This is the way it goes . Large carriers want minimum revenue guarantees to add a Caribbean airport into their timetable . the cost associated to it is huge for governments ; We always considered this was NOT the way to go for Dominica, and we continue to say it. Absolutely NOT the way to go. Would an International airport be built in Dominica, the country’s finances would be terrific after 5 years . We still think the way to go is a National/Private sector local small size airline linking Dominica to its neighbouring hubs with small aircrafts . This means flying the Dominican flag throughout the Caribbean, means good pilot, engineers, mecchanics,…. jobs for Dominicans in Dominica and to the diaspora at the hubs, and an affordable cost to the country.
Air access to Dominica WILL ALWAYS BE a cost . There will NEVER be any profit . It is an infrastructure, and no one expects a road to be profitable.
Air Dominica is the solution.
Then we Dominica should work in collaboration with Stlucia in the use of their international airport. what we could do is have our own airlines flying from stlucia to dominica on a regular basis.we could also use the ferry services. Just a thought. we really need to work together to archieve.
You “President” are perfectly right. This is what we are working on now. Partnering with a St Lucia based regional airline, having Air Dominica’s own aircraft(s) based in melville and flying regularly Melville to Hewanorrah to catch transatlantic and transcontinental airlines with the appropriate timetable. SLU is one of the closest hubs.
I am all for the ferry service. DA should look into that seriously. If that makes getting to DA quicker and cheaper I am all for it.
If not an international airport, then we still need one with a safe approach for night landing. The current location of Melvilee Hall is a liability to Dominica’s tourism product. Furthermore, stay-over toursit who usually travel by air would spend more money in Dominca when compared to tourist who visit via cruise ship.
You guys have this belief that people would not travel to a destination unless there is a direct flight to that destination. Direct flights are always preferred to those that have stops.
Most people have become accustomed to stops along the way. Unless you are a major US city, invariably you will have to transfer at a hub. That is just the way it is. People will tolerate stops if the stop if it is not for too long and the airfare is reasonably priced. People will more likely go for a cheap flight with one stop over a direct flight that costs them $400 more.
That’s partially true in the US. However, Dominica’s case is totally different. If there are must-see-attractions, people will make the sacrifice. Dominica does not have any must see attractions to force the average traveler to behave otherwise.
We are a niche tourism market. That being said, stakeholders need to rethink their branding strategy. All the numbers from hoteliers on the island point to decreased stay-over tourist.
Understanding St. Lucia and St. Kitts’ predicament should not cause us cold feet at the alter. We need to find solutions to improve our product and continue to remain relevant and competitive.
Excellent!
Anthony Ismael , the instrument approach at Melville Hall is as good as it can be, based on Dominica’s nature and topography . The approach is well done, and will allow most of the flights to land. In some cases, as for any approach, flights will have to fly to their Alternate destination . St Barth’s has no night landing, no instrument approach and still attracts a large number of tourists each year.
The proponents of an international airport seem to think the only cost associated with the airport is building the airstip and terminal. All they need to do is look at the cost of maintaining the stadium.
All they want is an airport that will cause them to fly non-stop to DA once every 5 years, like that is going to sustain an airport?
St. Lucia has a fairly well developed tourism industry and a population twice the size of Dominica, yet they have to pay subsidies to AA. How much do you think we would have to pay AA to encourage them to fly there from Miami? Would they even entertain the thought? The goverment of Trinidad is also paying Virgin Atlantic to fly into Tobago. They too have a fairly well developed tourism product.
An IA is nice to have if you can afford the downstream costs of having one. Otherwise it may end up being like the Ferrari your god mother gave (an unemployed) you as a birthday gift.
That is deep and an eye opener. I have changed my mind about DA wanting an International Airport.
If St Lucia with its 200,000 plus peiple and a fully developed tourism cannot get a decent capacity plane to land in SLU, then we would maybe ending drinking salt water in DA.
Not even the eagle that comes in full into St Lucia…WOW..WOW
So SLU Tourism is smoke and mirrors then
@ wiki thats what i been saying when every one was crying for one do like PR did build a midside one with plans to add on later.
Interesting. I wonder how much it would cost Dominica for them to do the same ontop of an international airport? I guess this is one of the many cost factors needed to be taken into account moving forward.
That man they calling “Chasenet” is and was only for his self and his pockets. Thank God Soufriere people were smart enough not to vote for him cause all now our Pitons would of been sold…Lorne you better check what was the deal with Noregian (Cruise Line) coming back to our waters, it was good enough for them to come back but I hope it is beneficial to the country….These Guys in UWP spoiled St. Lucia!!!! Sir John probably turning in his grave…chewps
I never could understand the rationale for this deal with St Lucia and similar deals with St Kitts and a few major carriers. In the case of St Kitts, those types of deals have contributed to the country’s serious debt burden. I don’t think that those deals are economically beneficial to our small islands as they are just too costly for taxpayers – some tourists visit “yes”, but the price the countries pay to get them in is just not worth it. Why don’t we give LIAT the same guarantees?
No need for guaranteed revenues when LIAT is bankrolled by the governments
dont let them hear you say that nah..you’d be in for alot of mapwee like liat is the biggest plague around. liat can be a profitable airline with proper restructuring and cash injection.