Expect improved airlift capacity to St Vincent and the Grenadines as travel demand to the Caribbean destination is expected to grow.
Minister of Tourism Carlos James made several announcements concerning air travel during State of Tourism 2024 address on Tuesday.
The minister says St Vincent and the Grenadines continues to work closely with other airlines to improve airlift capacity, and in a few weeks at least one additional airline will be announced which is expected to enter the destination year end.
James says SVG is looking at, at least three carriers likely to come into the destination between this year and next year. He notes he can safely say St Vincent and the Grenadines has secured JetBlue to come to the destination this year.
St Vincent and the Grenadines currently boasts international flights from source markets London, Heathrow – Virgin Atlantic three times weekly; Miami International –American Airlines- three flights weekly; Toronto, Pearson International –Air Canada- four flights weekly during the winter season and New York, JFK-Caribbean Airlines- twice weekly.
The Minister of Tourism announced year-round flights will now take place with Air Canada as after two years of suspended services from Toronto to St Vincent and the Grenadines during the Summer, SVG has successfully negotiated year-round service from Toronto to the destination.
The summer schedule will commence Sunday, April 7 through to October 27 with weekly service out of Toronto.
The tourism minister also announced more flights from Miami, stating that as St Vincent and the Grenadines approaches the 2024 winter season, and as of November, American Airlines will now move back to six flights per week excluding Wednesdays.
Providing statistics, the minister says preliminary 2023 January to December data shows a 35.7 per cent increase in air arrivals in comparison to the same period in 2022. James says while air arrivals steadily grow, unreliable and somewhat inconsistent regional air service continue to prevail severely affect regional travel.
St Vincent and the Grenadines expects some improvement to the inter-island and regional airlift as small airlines expand their fleet to accommodate the growing demand travel.
In terms of improvements on SVG’s end, the government intends to implement a modern air traffic management system comprising of an air traffic control simulator, automatic dependent civilians broadcast (ADSB), MLAT, to revolutionise air travel within the jurisdiction.
