Swiftair ATR 72-500 (EC-KKQ) on wet-lease for CAL on the airbridge for a while. A 2nd ATR to join soon as well.

'Summer' charters to/from Trinidad:
Air Antilles: POS-FDF (ATR 72)
Aruba Airlines: POS-AUA-HAV (A320)
PAWA Dominicana: POS-POP (MD-80)
Turpial Airlines: POS-PMV (737-400)
Xtra Airways: POS-PUJ (737-400)

I am surprised the thread has garnered so little attention since Irma, the UK government is using BGI as a base for its relief efforts into the impacted islands.

Apparently Caribbean aviation discussions have shifted to the hurricane threads. Given that only a narrow discussion is possible on the immediate impact of these hurricanes on airline service it prevents a larger discussion. Also the discussion becomes diluted to the extent that the storms reach the US mainland.

After the immediate impacts of the hurricanes recede and TV cameras move on there will be larger issues that impact Caribbean aviation.

1. Tourism arrivals and impacts on airline service. Especially into STT, STX and SXM, the latter being a mini-hub for smaller destinations, specially for traffic originating in Europe and Canada.
2. Migrants in places like SXM and EIS being sent home, voluntarily or by withdrawing work permits and the impact that this has on VFR travel.
3. SXM which is a mini hub and STT which is a major focus city will lose air service as arrivals dwindle. How will this impact SJU as a re-emerging Eastern Caribbean hub.
4. Given the above how will airlines like LI, Seaborne and Winair be impacted. Currently SKB is the only destination north of ANU which sustains at least daily LI service. How will this impact LIATs route network and scheduling.

Interesting discussion but not really appropriate for the hurricane threads.

I wonder if, sadly, airlines will pull out of SXM. I imagine the hotel infrastructure will take quite a while to get up to what it was pre-Irma. If CM pulls out, for example, I would like to think they would FINALLY see BGI as a viable option...

turk223 wrote:

I wonder if, sadly, airlines will pull out of SXM. I imagine the hotel infrastructure will take quite a while to get up to what it was pre-Irma. If CM pulls out, for example, I would like to think they would FINALLY see BGI as a viable option...

With both GOL and AV failing will CM really risk it?

[url][/url]

guyanam wrote:

turk223 wrote:

I wonder if, sadly, airlines will pull out of SXM. I imagine the hotel infrastructure will take quite a while to get up to what it was pre-Irma. If CM pulls out, for example, I would like to think they would FINALLY see BGI as a viable option...

With both GOL and AV failing will CM really risk it?

AV did not fail; it was doing very well.

The retriction imposed by Venezuela to AV aircraft overflying Venezuelan airspace has put the flight on hold.

Since that situation ain't changing any time soon, AV will most likely be UNABLE to return to BGI.

guyanam wrote:

Apparently Caribbean aviation discussions have shifted to the hurricane threads. Given that only a narrow discussion is possible on the immediate impact of these hurricanes on airline service it prevents a larger discussion. Also the discussion becomes diluted to the extent that the storms reach the US mainland.

After the immediate impacts of the hurricanes recede and TV cameras move on there will be larger issues that impact Caribbean aviation.

1. Tourism arrivals and impacts on airline service. Especially into STT, STX and SXM, the latter being a mini-hub for smaller destinations, specially for traffic originating in Europe and Canada.
2. Migrants in places like SXM and EIS being sent home, voluntarily or by withdrawing work permits and the impact that this has on VFR travel.
3. SXM which is a mini hub and STT which is a major focus city will lose air service as arrivals dwindle. How will this impact SJU as a re-emerging Eastern Caribbean hub.
4. Given the above how will airlines like LI, Seaborne and Winair be impacted. Currently SKB is the only destination north of ANU which sustains at least daily LI service. How will this impact LIATs route network and scheduling.

Interesting discussion but not really appropriate for the hurricane threads.

LIAT had to cancel dozens of flights, which will make its next set of accounts even worse than usual. And when LIAT has to turn to its shareholders again for more money, two of them are in trouble: Antigua and Barbuda (from Irma, Jose and Maria, with Barbuda devastated) and Dominica (Maria). Will the other two big shareholders, Barbados and St Vincent, stump up a lot? It's going to be tough for LIAT.

gunnerman wrote:

LIAT had to cancel dozens of flights, which will make its next set of accounts even worse than usual. And when LIAT has to turn to its shareholders again for more money, two of them are in trouble: Antigua and Barbuda (from Irma, Jose and Maria, with Barbuda devastated) and Dominica (Maria). Will the other two big shareholders, Barbados and St Vincent, stump up a lot? It's going to be tough for LIAT.

Winair is definitely in worse shape than LIAT and I suspect so is Seaborne.

I wonder if SKB will be pressured to put money into LIAT. As of now its the only destination which is being served north of ANU. I am not sure how profitable service is to that island with EIS and SXM no longer available. Yet access to the rest of the OECS is important given that ECCB and the EC Stock exchange and mortgage bank are located there. Quite a few OECS nationals and Guyanese also live there.

Thanks to its citizen program SKB isn't exactly broke these days especially as they only received marginal damage from Irma and Maria. Maybe they can follow GND and provide a specific revenue guarantee to ensure service. GND allegedly did so on its GND BGI route.

What is obvious is that a delayed recovery of EIS, SXM and DOM will hurt LIAT. Though DOM will once again need LI as SXM hub functions will be drastically reduced in the near future so who knows what will happen to the Air Antilles service.

I think that SVG will have their hands full explaining to the public why they still cannot get jet service from key markets like NYC and MIA. Not sure if more $$ into LI will be feasible, given that Vincentians had expected reduced dependence on them by now.

A question that I have is, will LIAT return to flying to SJU even if DOM isn’t ready for commercial service? Will they return to serving it out of ANU or will they simply drop it until DOM is ready to be reopened? I also worry about Winair, LIAT and even Insel Air as going concerns from this point onward. The issues with Winair are obvious. LIAT lost three of its most important northern stations essentially all at once and suffered a wave of cancellations throughout the entire summer where every single station it served was affected directly (except Guyana ice was affected indirectly when BGI has been closed). SXM is one of Insel’s core destinations. Can they survive another blow when they are already this weak?

It will also be interesting to see how the majors out of the US, Canada and Europe react. What will get cut and what will remain? I also don’t see COPA sticking around in SXM whenever service restarts there.

I’m also interested in seeing how tourists react. What will arrivals look like? Will they increase in islands that weren’t as badly affected or will the entire region feel the sting of a drop? Will ANU maintain tourist levels or will people conflate what happened in Barbuda with Antigua?

Brickell305 wrote:

I’m also interested in seeing how tourists react. What will arrivals look like? Will they increase in islands that weren’t as badly affected or will the entire region feel the sting of a drop? Will ANU maintain tourist levels or will people conflate what happened in Barbuda with Antigua?

It is an unfortunate fact that tourists lack an understanding of the region, so a hurricane which hits the northern Caribbean will scare people away from the entire region. This will be a hard winter for the tourism industry, just when it makes its money in the peak season between mid-December to mid-April. In time there will be a recovery, but money lost in 2017/18 is gone forever.

guyanam wrote:

I think that SVG will have their hands full explaining to the public why they still cannot get jet service from key markets like NYC and MIA. Not sure if more $$ into LI will be feasible, given that Vincentians had expected reduced dependence on them by now.

In or around 1996, I visited St Vincent, whose biggest hotel was I think Sunset Shores with 24 rooms. It now has 32 rooms, I think, but this is the problem: a lack of hotel rooms means no flights. Every tour operator knows that there is no point in flying 100 tourists to SVD when no suitable accommodation is available.

Unfortunately, it looks as if SVD will be a white elephant, which raises the question of how the government is going to pay for this expensive and oversized airport.

gunnerman wrote:

Unfortunately, it looks as if SVD will be a white elephant, which raises the question of how the government is going to pay for this expensive and oversized airport.

Maybe the SVD PM isn't going to run in the next election, so he will force others to answer that question. Clearly B6 and AA aren't interested as by now they would gave announced service for W 2018. They had a year to plan this.

gunnerman wrote:

Brickell305 wrote:

I’m also interested in seeing how tourists react. What will arrivals look like? Will they increase in islands that weren’t as badly affected or will the entire region feel the sting of a drop? Will ANU maintain tourist levels or will people conflate what happened in Barbuda with Antigua?

It is an unfortunate fact that tourists lack an understanding of the region, so a hurricane which hits the northern Caribbean will scare people away from the entire region. This will be a hard winter for the tourism industry, just when it makes its money in the peak season between mid-December to mid-April. In time there will be a recovery, but money lost in 2017/18 is gone forever.[/quote

This is the problem with the sensationalist media. Over the past month people have been hearing about "hurricanes demolishing the Caribbean". That is why ANU even jumped the gun by issuing an all clear after Irma, before they were able to verify what was happening in Barbuda. While the damage is clearly severe with almost every island in the northeast Caribbean hurt, the rest of the Caribbean has emerged unscathed.........at least for now.

In the current situation of Insel Air all their destinations are important but AUA is their most important one and BON too. A bigger worry for Insel Air is the start of Twin Otter service by Divi Divi Air in the coming months.

A388

Brickell305 wrote:

A question that I have is, will LIAT return to flying to SJU even if DOM isn’t ready for commercial service? ?

Good question as I had the impression that the only reason why they still do SJU is because of DOM. I guess it depends on how much traffic they generate out of BGI and other islands on the southern end of their route network.

With Seaborne back into ANU, after dropping that island I doubt that ANU will risk driving them out again by allowing LI back in. Seaborne has code shares with several carriers and allows late connections over SJU for those who cannot connect with the mid morning AA flight from MIA.

guyanam wrote:

gunnerman wrote:

Brickell305 wrote:

I’m also interested in seeing how tourists react. What will arrivals look like? Will they increase in islands that weren’t as badly affected or will the entire region feel the sting of a drop? Will ANU maintain tourist levels or will people conflate what happened in Barbuda with Antigua?

It is an unfortunate fact that tourists lack an understanding of the region, so a hurricane which hits the northern Caribbean will scare people away from the entire region. This will be a hard winter for the tourism industry, just when it makes its money in the peak season between mid-December to mid-April. In time there will be a recovery, but money lost in 2017/18 is gone forever.

This is the problem with the sensationalist media. Over the past month people have been hearing about "hurricanes demolishing the Caribbean". That is why ANU even jumped the gun by issuing an all clear after Irma, before they were able to verify what was happening in Barbuda. While the damage is clearly severe with almost every island in the northeast Caribbean hurt, the rest of the Caribbean has emerged unscathed.........at least for now.

The hurricane season doesn't officially end until 30 November, which is long time for the devastated northern Caribbean to wait.

gunnerman wrote:

guyanam wrote:

I think that SVG will have their hands full explaining to the public why they still cannot get jet service from key markets like NYC and MIA. Not sure if more $$ into LI will be feasible, given that Vincentians had expected reduced dependence on them by now.

In or around 1996, I visited St Vincent, whose biggest hotel was I think Sunset Shores with 24 rooms. It now has 32 rooms, I think, but this is the problem: a lack of hotel rooms means no flights. Every tour operator knows that there is no point in flying 100 tourists to SVD when no suitable accommodation is available.

Unfortunately, it looks as if SVD will be a white elephant, which raises the question of how the government is going to pay for this expensive and oversized airport.

From the moment the entire international airport idea was proposed, I have been trying to figure out why opposition to it has been so minimal. The problems with SVD were plainly obvious since then. St. Vincent is not a touristy island by any means. There are few hotels and no one has expressed any interest in building additional resorts/hotels since the airport was proposed. The local market is small. To the point where old SVD (combined with TAB) couldn't even maintain service to SJU during the Eagle heyday. SVD is also geographically close to two of the larger hubs (BGI & POS) in the English speaking Caribbean. It just did not make any sense for a cash strapped government to undertake this kind of project with so little to gain.

Brickell305 wrote:

A question that I have is, will LIAT return to flying to SJU even if DOM isn’t ready for commercial service? Will they return to serving it out of ANU or will they simply drop it until DOM is ready to be reopened?

LIAT only had BGI-DOM-SJU three times a week using the ATR 42, so it wasn't that big a route. As DOM is in a bad way, I can't see BGI-SJU working. A reroute such as BGI-ANU-SJU is possible, but BB is doing ANU-SJU four times a week.

Brickell305 wrote:

gunnerman wrote:

guyanam wrote:

I think that SVG will have their hands full explaining to the public why they still cannot get jet service from key markets like NYC and MIA. Not sure if more $$ into LI will be feasible, given that Vincentians had expected reduced dependence on them by now.

In or around 1996, I visited St Vincent, whose biggest hotel was I think Sunset Shores with 24 rooms. It now has 32 rooms, I think, but this is the problem: a lack of hotel rooms means no flights. Every tour operator knows that there is no point in flying 100 tourists to SVD when no suitable accommodation is available.

Unfortunately, it looks as if SVD will be a white elephant, which raises the question of how the government is going to pay for this expensive and oversized airport.

From the moment the entire international airport idea was proposed, I have been trying to figure out why opposition to it has been so minimal. The problems with SVD were plainly obvious since then. St. Vincent is not a touristy island by any means. There are few hotels and no one has expressed any interest in building additional resorts/hotels since the airport was proposed. The local market is small. To the point where old SVD (combined with TAB) couldn't even maintain service to SJU during the Eagle heyday. SVD is also geographically close to two of the larger hubs (BGI & POS) in the English speaking Caribbean. It just did not make any sense for a cash strapped government to undertake this kind of project with so little to gain.

It isn't just St Vincent - look at Dominica. In 1999, the United Workers Party unveiled a plan for a big international airport, but thankfully the new Rosie Douglas administration shelved the plan in 2000. However, Roosevelt Skerrit is undeterred and signed a US$300 deal with with Chinese company ASCG in 2013 to build the airport with a 2,500m long runway.

Dominica is, like St Vincent, not a big tourism destination, so how does this make sense? It doesn't, because it's all about prestige.

Related to the topic at hand, it appears that Bahamasair will no longer be running the weekly charter to SVD from MIA. Taken from the OAG thread

UP MIA-SVD OCT 0.1>0

Also, we may be seeing the first signs of Irma related cuts. I expect further cuts to follow.

AA MIA-STT OCT 4>3 NOV 4>3
AA MIA-SXM OCT 2.0>1.0 NOV 2>1.0 DEC 2>1.8

NK FLL-STT OCT 1.0>0.3 NOV 1.0>0.3 DEC 1.0>0.3 JAN 1.0>0.3 FEB 1.0>0.6
NK FLL-SXM OCT 0.1>0 NOV 0.1>0 DEC 0.2>0 JAN 0.1>0

SY MSP-SXM JAN 0.1>0 FEB 0.1>0 MAR 0.2>0

UA EWR-PLS NOV 0.5>0.4
UA EWR-STT NOV 0.4>0.1 DEC 0.7>0.5
UA EWR-SXM NOV 0.4>0.1 DEC 0.8>0.6
UA IAD-SXM NOV 0.1>0
UA IAH-STT DEC 0.2>0.1
UA ORD-STT DEC 0.2>0.1
UA ORD-SXM NOV 0.1>0

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1374549

Brickell305 wrote:

Related to the topic at hand, it appears that Bahamasair will no longer be running the weekly charter to SVD from MIA. Taken from the OAG thread

AA MIA-SXM OCT 2.0>1.0 NOV 2>1.0 DEC 2>1.8
NK FLL-SXM OCT 0.1>0 NOV 0.1>0 DEC 0.2>0 JAN 0.1>0
SY MSP-SXM JAN 0.1>0 FEB 0.1>0 MAR 0.2>0
UA EWR-SXM NOV 0.4>0.1 DEC 0.8>0.6
UA IAD-SXM NOV 0.1>0
UA ORD-SXM NOV 0.1>0

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1374549

Lots of cuts for SXM, it was expected though. On the Canadian side it looks like Sunwing and Westjet have cut all SXM flights this winter, they are not bookable. Air Canada is still showing their x1 weekly Rouge 767 flight on Saturdays and Transat still has YUL/YYZ-SXM on A310's still available for booking at this time.

This advisory on the Air Transat website states this:

Our scheduled flights are expected to begin in late December 2017. In the coming weeks, our teams at destination, in collaboration with our hotelier partners, will be providing full details on when hotels may reopen.

I really feel for the people of SXM and their economy. I hope they will recover quickly and everything to be back to normal as quickly as possible.


A388

Brickell305 wrote:

From the moment the entire international airport idea was proposed, I have been trying to figure out why opposition to it has been so minimal. .

A special challenge that SVD has is that the bulk of their tourism is into the Grenadines and it isn't obvious that tourists will use SVD to get there when BGI has more travel options. SVD has actually more UK arrivals than does SKB which does enjoy (subsidized) BA service. NEV has very poor airline service, since LI dropped service, so this forces people to travel via SKB and then use ferries. SVG Air means that the Grenadines don't have that problem.

Sadly Caribbean people don't respect each other. Vincentians (and Guyanese), with great credibility, complained about horrendous treatment by immigration authorities at both airport hubs. Additional LIAT has an active hatred expressed towards its passengers. It is not funny for LI to show up at SVD 4 hours late, after the connecting flight has left BGI, and then look blankly claiming no responsibility. Ditto for people arriving in BGI from SVD to find out that LIAT had canceled the connecting flight to SVD. Vincentians have gotten tired of that.

It was for this reason that the airport project was popular even though a few voices of reason warned that it would be a failure.

gunnerman wrote:

Brickell305 wrote:

A question that I have is, will LIAT return to flying to SJU even if DOM isn’t ready for commercial service? Will they return to serving it out of ANU or will they simply drop it until DOM is ready to be reopened?

LIAT only had BGI-DOM-SJU three times a week using the ATR 42, so it wasn't that big a route. As DOM is in a bad way, I can't see BGI-SJU working. A reroute such as BGI-ANU-SJU is possible, but BB is doing ANU-SJU four times a week.

Maybe LI might do a reroute via ANU if the DOM numbers are really poor. They might want to do this to maintain some market position in SJU. Unless the medical school closes down there will be demand for an SJU DOM is BB cannot handle it all.

Airport Updates:

SXM will reopen October 6, but the main terminal will remain closed.

STT opened yesterday, with Delta and American each operating one flight. Only gate 3 is functional. A temporary wall has been built in the departure area to separate gate 3 from the rest of the space. US Customs pre clearance remains closed, so any flights to the US will have to go through customs on arrival.

STX remains closed, but seaplane service to St Croix has resumed.

So how will the passengers and luggage be handled when the main terminal is still closed? Will they set up temporary facilities and equipment to have the airport "open"?


In other news, I understand that Aruba Airlines plans to start Dash-8 service between the ABC island. The local airline in Curacao named Divi Divi Air will also start Twin Otter service to Aruba this year. So finally there will be some competition again on the CUR-AUA route and prices to go down hopefully.


A388

303dk wrote:

Airport Updates:

SXM will reopen October 6, but the main terminal will remain closed.

STT opened yesterday, with Delta and American each operating one flight. Only gate 3 is functional. A temporary wall has been built in the departure area to separate gate 3 from the rest of the space. US Customs pre clearance remains closed, so any flights to the US will have to go through customs on arrival.

STX remains closed, but seaplane service to St Croix has resumed.

Not sure which of the USVI you are on, or if you are still there. I was wondering about you. If you are do you know the projections for a reasonable resuscitation. of the tourism plant in the USVI?

Jamaica. Cayman, and the DR are primed to take visitors who would normally travel to the impacted islands. They are visibly letting people know that the western Caribbean wasn't impacted. This in reaction to the poor geographical knowledge of many North Americans and Europeans who don't know that Jamaica isn't 50 miles away from Puerto Rico.

Mexico might be going through its own image problems with recent reports of violence near some of its resort areas.

SXM hopes to get back cruise lines by November. What are the expectations for STT as far as you know?

I can imagine that SJU will be seriously hurt by the fact that there will be fewer Southern Caribbean cruises starting from there, so this will further impact the level of airline service that will be provided

guyanam wrote:

SXM hopes to get back cruise lines by November. What are the expectations for STT as far as you know?

I can imagine that SJU will be seriously hurt by the fact that there will be fewer Southern Caribbean cruises starting from there, so this will further impact the level of airline service that will be provided

St Thomas downtown and both ports have power and businesses are nearly ready, if not already open. The remaining work is getting beaches and attractions ready. I would expect ships back there by the end of October.

St Croix has no power yet in Frederickstad and the town has major damage.

San Juan will be fine... it's the rest of the island to worry about. I would bet that cruise and tourism things from Viejo San Juan to Isla Verde will be ready by Thanksgiving.

Looks like Antigua had some Chinese visitors today(2 China Eastern Airbus A330s). Think they're relief flights.

In other ANU news, An Antonov 124 had an incident while parking on the ramp. Given the size of the aircraft I'm not surprised this happened:

https://antiguaobserver.com/cargo-plane ... l-airprot/

I recall another incident of a light pole being struck, this was a BA 777 at GND some years ago. Fortunately, the damage was not severe, so the 777 was flown back to LGW the next day.

Here is an update to the article which says that the aircraft was on its way from Sint Maarten to the US but stopped at ANU to refuel.

https://antiguaobserver.com/cargo-plane-forced-to-stay-in-antigua-after-accident-at-the-airport/

I don't know why the captain would go in the opposite direction to ANU. Are SJU or STT not ready for such an aircraft?

Maybe SJU couldn't accept them due to their own operational issues plus they are only operating on a day time schedule to my knowledge. Fuel might be a problem in SJU and they might prefer to give priority to relief flights plus those which are SJU oriented. Ditto for STT which is even more challenged.

The sad thing is that; I heard that Southwest was going to announce service to SXM this year aswell as Jetblue expanding with a flight from FLL to SXM.

Frontier has stated interest in SXM and said that possibly in 2019 they would potentially start service..

But because of these airports being down... They are probably going to be pushed back a while

Flew home on BA2159 yesterday (Sunday) and while landing was perfectly fine and normal, we had to be pushed back from the stand by the tug all the way to the end of the runway (all in reverse). The pilot said it was due to pot-holes at the end of the St. Lucia (UVF) runway, preventing the plane from turning around on its own.

Anyone know of this. The previous Sunday when I flew out on BA2158, we had no such issues.

Cheers,
AA1818

Balloonchaser wrote:

The sad thing is that; I heard that Southwest was going to announce service to SXM this year aswell as Jetblue expanding with a flight from FLL to SXM.

Frontier has stated interest in SXM and said that possibly in 2019 they would potentially start service..

But because of these airports being down... They are probably going to be pushed back a while

This might actually be an opening for Southwest to jump in while everyone else has reduced frequency. Surely with their network they could fill at least 1 daily flight, even in a down year for hotel customers

aa1818 wrote:

Flew home on BA2159 yesterday (Sunday) and while landing was perfectly fine and normal, we had to be pushed back from the stand by the tug all the way to the end of the runway (all in reverse). The pilot said it was due to pot-holes at the end of the St. Lucia (UVF) runway, preventing the plane from turning around on its own.

Anyone know of this. The previous Sunday when I flew out on BA2158, we had no such issues.

Cheers,
AA1818

BA2158 lands at UVF, so there is no problem. But for departing flights such as BA2159, the pilot normally taxis from the terminal (at the eastern end of the runway) to the runway's western end and does a clockwise 360 degree turn to take off into the prevailing easterly wind. It's the turnaround point which I believe was damaged by Hurricane Maria, hence the push back all the way there.

303dk wrote:

Balloonchaser wrote:

The sad thing is that; I heard that Southwest was going to announce service to SXM this year aswell as Jetblue expanding with a flight from FLL to SXM.

Frontier has stated interest in SXM and said that possibly in 2019 they would potentially start service..

But because of these airports being down... They are probably going to be pushed back a while

This might actually be an opening for Southwest to jump in while everyone else has reduced frequency. Surely with their network they could fill at least 1 daily flight, even in a down year for hotel customers

If the carriers keep the schedule that is being indicated then there isn't going to be room for WN to fill a vacuum. That might well be why some carriers might put in too much capacity, as they don't want to create a gap to allow easy entry. SXM is a very important Caribbean destination.

gunnerman wrote:

aa1818 wrote:

Flew home on BA2159 yesterday (Sunday) and while landing was perfectly fine and normal, we had to be pushed back from the stand by the tug all the way to the end of the runway (all in reverse). The pilot said it was due to pot-holes at the end of the St. Lucia (UVF) runway, preventing the plane from turning around on its own.

Anyone know of this. The previous Sunday when I flew out on BA2158, we had no such issues.

Cheers,
AA1818

BA2158 lands at UVF, so there is no problem. But for departing flights such as BA2159, the pilot normally taxis from the terminal (at the eastern end of the runway) to the runway's western end and does a clockwise 360 degree turn to take off into the prevailing easterly wind. It's the turnaround point which I believe was damaged by Hurricane Maria, hence the push back all the way there.

Both 2158 and 2159 take-off from UVF.
The routing is BA2159 LGW-UVF-POS; BA2158 POS-UVF-LGW.
I flew BA 2158 on Sunday September 23rd which I believe was after Maria. Was just wondering what changed in that week as we taxied and turned-around on 2158 but not on 2159.

Cheers,
AA1818

aa1818 wrote:

gunnerman wrote:

aa1818 wrote:

Flew home on BA2159 yesterday (Sunday) and while landing was perfectly fine and normal, we had to be pushed back from the stand by the tug all the way to the end of the runway (all in reverse). The pilot said it was due to pot-holes at the end of the St. Lucia (UVF) runway, preventing the plane from turning around on its own.

Anyone know of this. The previous Sunday when I flew out on BA2158, we had no such issues.

Cheers,
AA1818

BA2158 lands at UVF, so there is no problem. But for departing flights such as BA2159, the pilot normally taxis from the terminal (at the eastern end of the runway) to the runway's western end and does a clockwise 360 degree turn to take off into the prevailing easterly wind. It's the turnaround point which I believe was damaged by Hurricane Maria, hence the push back all the way there.

Both 2158 and 2159 take-off from UVF.
The routing is BA2159 LGW-UVF-POS; BA2158 POS-UVF-LGW.
I flew BA 2158 on Sunday September 23rd which I believe was after Maria. Was just wondering what changed in that week as we taxied and turned-around on 2158 but not on 2159.

Cheers,
AA1818

I misunderstood your routing. Are you saying that you live in Trinidad and flew out POS-UVF-LGW and returned a week later LGW-UVF-POS. You certainly flew after Maria, and I don't know why there are potholes now. I'd be interested to know how long it takes the airport to carry out repairs.

If Frontier indeed has plans to start SXM flights in 2019, I don't think the current situation in SXM will have any impact on this service, seeing it's planned all the way in 2019.

In other news, Aruba Airlines has made public now that they will start Dash-8 flights between the ABC islands on October 23rd. Insel Air is getting competition again with Aruba Airlines and Divi Divi Air now starting flights to AUA.


A388

How is Insel going? Any news with the getting their jets back in the air. Winair/PAWA must be gobbling up market share with their SXM CUR service (once it restarts).

There is going to be three special WINAIR flights operated by PAWA.

http://curacaochronicle.com/aviation/minister-arrindell-announces-special-winair-st-maarten-curacao-round-trip-flight/

Good question guyanam. Nobody really knows how Insel Air is doing but I think they are just barely making it with the small operation they have now and little cash to really expand. They are still working on getting one of their MD80's back in the air but it still needs to be certified/approved to fly.


A388

guyanam wrote:

How is Insel going? Any news with the getting their jets back in the air. Winair/PAWA must be gobbling up market share with their SXM CUR service (once it restarts).

Also, isn't KLM (temporarily) running CUR-SXM? That's gonna hurt Insel in the short term.

KLM won't be selling tickets between CUR and SXM so it won't hurt any airline flying between these two islands.


A388

A388 wrote:

KLM won't be selling tickets between CUR and SXM so it won't hurt any airline flying between these two islands.


A388

I think that the route is AMS CUR SXM AMS. so KL clearly doesn't plan to enter that market/

A388 wrote:

If Frontier indeed has plans to start SXM flights in 2019, I don't think the current situation in SXM will have any impact on this service, seeing it's planned all the way in 2019.

In other news, Aruba Airlines has made public now that they will start Dash-8 flights between the ABC islands on October 23rd. Insel Air is getting competition again with Aruba Airlines and Divi Divi Air now starting flights to AUA.


A388

Which type of Dash 8 will they be operating ? Also are they any pics? I am a bit surprised they have opted to use the Dash.

baje427 wrote:

Which type of Dash 8 will they be operating ? Also are they any pics? I am a bit surprised they have opted to use the Dash.

I understand they will operate the Dash8-Q300. Unfortunately there are no pictures yet.


A388

LIAT appears to have decided to opt for restarting SJU flights via Antigua.

LIAT FLIGHT OPERATIONS TO SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO

LIAT will operate its first flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico on Friday 6th October, 2017 following the passage of Hurricane Maria.

The flight will operate as follows:

LI662 Departs Antigua (ANU) 11:00 a.m. and arrives San Juan (SJU) 12:25 p.m.

LI663 Departs San Juan (SJU) 3:00 p.m. and arrives Antigua (ANU) 4:25 p.m.

To book seats on this flight or for more information, persons must contact our Reservations Department/Call Centre at 1-888-844-5428 or 1268-480-5601.

At this time we are still working on regularising operations into San Juan and the interim schedule will be communicated at a later date.

http://www.liat.com/navSource.html?page_id=995

STX is reopening today. EIS has also reopened. SMX will reopen on Oct. 10.

That LI flight seems to be a one off .