LIAT opens new flight between Nevis and St. Kitts
By Ryan Haas
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
.jpg) |
|
LIAT CEO Mark Darby; Minister with responsibility for Civil Aviation, Hon. Asim Martin; Minister of State with responsibility for Tourism, Hon. Richard Skerritt
|
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts-LIAT flight number 544 from Nevis to St. Kitts made its inaugural touch down yesterday (Dec. 1) at the Robert L. Bradshaw International airport around 5:40 p.m., further streamlining travel throughout the Eastern Caribbean and onto Europe.
The newest leg to regional carrier LIAT’s flight schedule will depart Antigua around 4:45 p.m. daily and arrive in Nevis at 5:15 p.m. From that point, passengers will then be able to travel on to St. Kitts for a 5:40 p.m. arrival before the flight returns to Antigua the same evening.
LIAT’s Chief Executive Officer Mark Darby travelled on the inaugural voyage of the flight and said that his company saw it as an important service for the Federation.
“We are delighted that we are able to come back here and offer this service once again. We see this service as an important part of reestablishing the tourism business, particularly since American Airlines withdrew some of their services and we are happy to fill the void.”
The service also stands to supplement Carib Aviation flights to Nevis that were cancelled after the airline’s closing earlier this year.
Minister of State with responsibility for Tourism, Hon. Richard Skerritt said that LIAT flight 544 would add to the tourism in St. Kitts-Nevis by providing greater access to European markets. ~~Adz:Right~~
“In our case, this particular late afternoon flight provides additional service for us out of Antigua, making a more comfortable transition for international flights coming in from Europe.”
He added that nationals coming and going from Antigua would benefit because they will no longer have to wait until 7 p.m. to return from the neighbouring nation.
“LIAT itself, having come through very difficult times for the airline industry, must still be facing some difficulties and I want to thank Mr. Darby and his management team for fighting all of the difficulties they had to for us to get new services like this,” Skerritt said.
LIAT officials said they could not quote definite rates at the ceremony, but some reports have indicated that they may be as low as US $37 for a one-way ticket between the twin islands.
As for the flight becoming a permanent fixture between the islands, it was made clear that “LIAT must be a commercially viable entity”, however Darby said all research indicated that the service would be successful as long as the travelling public continued to demand it.
