BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE St. Kitts Tourism Authority is revved up for the long-anticipated second weekly British Airways (BA) flight from London Gatwick Airport, expected to be launched tomorrow (Mar. 30) in spite of cabin crew strikes by the carrier.
Over one year has passed in preparation for the flight by the Tourism Authority, originally scheduled for March 23 this year, as it would immediately increase capacity to the island and translate to an increase in stay-over visitors. However, when news of an impending British Airways cabin crew strike broke, the launch date was moved back one week.
BA flight 2157 is expected to touch down at RLB International tomorrow (Mar. 30) at 3:35 P.M. local time, and Director of Communications at the St. Kitts Tourism Authority Saju Ng’alla told SKNVibes that all the details have been finalized to welcome the new flight.
“All the plans are in place for a brief gift handing-over ceremony that we will be making to the captain on the flight. We have been promised by British Airways management that the Caribbean route will continue [as scheduled]. We do not see any disruption to the flights on this end,” he informed.
Though BA London Heathrow flights have been affected by the strikes, all flights to and from Gatwick have been operating without disruptions. Ng’alla noted that he is optimistic that this trend would continue.
The new flight complements the current weekly Saturday service to RLB International Airport, which commenced operations in January 2009. The BA aircraft will use a similar configuration to the existing Saturday flight with a three class, 280-seat Boeing 777 aircraft.
Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Hon. Richard Skerritt welcomed the coming flight with hope, as it is anticipated to bring a much-needed boost to the tourism sector at a time of economic tightness.
“This flight is an important symbol of hope for our Tourism arrivals at a challenging time for Caribbean tourism and at a financially awkward time for international airlift. The British Airways decision to operate a second flight to St. Kitts from the UK not only symbolises BA’s confidence in the future of our destination, it also highlights the promising results our partnership with BA has been enjoying for the Saturday operation which, in the first year alone, brought close to 10,000 visitors to our island,” Skerritt quoted in a press statement issued earlier today (Mar. 29).
Rosecita Jeffers, CEO of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority expressed similar sentiments, noting that the new BA flight reflects the attractiveness of St. Kitts as a favoured tourist destination for the UK market. The flight, she added, comes as good news for all stakeholders in the industry.
“We are already seeing positive signs of a rebound in visitor arrivals and several trade and consumer initiatives currently in planning by the UK office of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority will undoubtedly ensure its continued success.”
