Nevis route still tentative says WINAIR exec
By Ryan Haas
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
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Marketing Manager for WINAIR, Edwin Hodge
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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts-TRAVELERS to and from Nevis are going to have to hold off on packing their bags, as talks between the island and regional carrier WINAIR remain in the “preliminary stages”.
“There has not been a written proposal submitted to the government of Nevis as yet, but [the continuance of routes] was mentioned to them in the meeting today [Sept. 22] and we are planning to form a strong partnership with them,” Edwin Hodge, Marketing Manager for WINAIR, told media from around the Eastern Caribbean at yesterday’s (Sept. 22) conference.
“The Nevis government will be getting back to us very shortly in regards to that,” he added.
Talks of a partnership between WINAIR and Nevis have become a hot topic since the announcement that Carib Aviation would be discontinuing service to the island as of September 30. If WINAIR does not pick up Carib Aviation’s previous routes, Nevis may be left largely isolated from the rest of the Caribbean by air travel.
Hodge was asked if such an expansion would currently be feasible for a small airline like WINAIR, considering that Carib Aviation blamed its closure on the loss of pilots to competing carriers.
“In the past we have lost staff, [but] at this time we do have enough pilots to run this operation,” Hodge clarified. ~~Adz:Right~~
He also stated that WINAIR’s existing fleet of six aircraft is more than capable of handling extra routing to Nevis, Barbuda and Montserrat, but his company is conscious of the added strain this would put on the equipment.
“We are busy right now maintaining and upgrading our fleet so we can be ready for the upcoming season, but we are also looking for backup aircraft so we can have proper reliability in securing all of the destinations.”
While the Marketing Manager remained hopeful that the discussion with Nevis would be fruitful, questions loomed about the Nevis Island Administration’s willingness to subsidise the flights, which Hodge said “would be an underlying factor for [WINAIR] to maintain the St. Maarten-Nevis route and to provide a Nevis-Antigua route”.
At this time no discussions have been held between WINAIR and the St. Kitts government, but similar negotiations are expected to be “coming up very soon”.
