Brickell305 wrote:

It’s not just forex issues. The US embassy in Trinidad is currently backlogged about 7-8 months for visa applications. That is to say if you begin the process now, your interview and final approval won’t take place until March/April of next year. That will inhibit demand for travel to/via the US as well.

Dear God, that long!?! Does T&T need a Visa just to go on vacation to the U.S.? Am I happy we don't need a visa to travel to the U.S.

A388

A388 wrote:

Brickell305 wrote:

It’s not just forex issues. The US embassy in Trinidad is currently backlogged about 7-8 months for visa applications. That is to say if you begin the process now, your interview and final approval won’t take place until March/April of next year. That will inhibit demand for travel to/via the US as well.

Dear God, that long!?! Does T&T need a Visa just to go on vacation to the U.S.? Am I happy we don't need a visa to travel to the U.S.

A388

Yes, Trinis do need a visa for vacations and to transit via the US. I think the backlog is ridiculously long.

baje427 wrote:

dominicl316 wrote:

embraer175e2 wrote:

LIAT 1974 Ltd is to be liquidated by its shareholders

https://www.stvincenttimes.com/liat-197 ... reholders/

If a new LIAT is to be rebuilt out of the ashes, would this negatively impact their ability to serve the U.S. territories, given the FAA's downgrading of the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority to Category 2 status back in 2020?

I don't see this new version getting off the ground anytime soon. Getting funding is the bigger concern I believe.

I am confused by all of this. Isn’t the two plane operation they have now the new entity? I thought 1974 had already been put to bed and what’s flying now is 2020. If that’s not the case, what does that mean for their current ops?

A388 wrote:

Brickell305 wrote:

It’s not just forex issues. The US embassy in Trinidad is currently backlogged about 7-8 months for visa applications. That is to say if you begin the process now, your interview and final approval won’t take place until March/April of next year. That will inhibit demand for travel to/via the US as well.

Dear God, that long!?! Does T&T need a Visa just to go on vacation to the U.S.? Am I happy we don't need a visa to travel to the U.S.

A388

It's even worse at the US embassy in BGI, somewhere close to a 2 year wait for an appointment.

Brickell305 wrote:

I am confused by all of this. Isn’t the two plane operation they have now the new entity? I thought 1974 had already been put to bed and what’s flying now is 2020. If that’s not the case, what does that mean for their current ops?

Actually no. LIAT 1974 Ltd is still very much alive. Long story short, back in June 2020, the shareholders (BGI & SVD only as ANU was outvoted) voted to liquidate LIAT. To stop this, in July 2020, ANU passed an amended company's act akin to US Chap 11. LI was then placed into administration. ANU basically took control of the company and BGI & SVD literally took a back seat. In November 2020, a severely downsized LI now down to 3 planes started a 1 plane schedule which basically continues up to today. 2 planes are now serviceable and the 3rd is undergoing c-check. Fast forward to August 2022, ANU/BGI/SVD finally agreed to liquidate (again basically) and form a new company Liat 2020 ltd. Apart from ANU, it is unclear if any new govt will be apart of this new company. Its clear BGI and SVD want out.

Cal loosing millions of us dollars on the airbridge.

https://www.facebook.com/50392437640785 ... NFYjy2nUl/

LimaFoxTango wrote:

A388 wrote:

Brickell305 wrote:

It’s not just forex issues. The US embassy in Trinidad is currently backlogged about 7-8 months for visa applications. That is to say if you begin the process now, your interview and final approval won’t take place until March/April of next year. That will inhibit demand for travel to/via the US as well.

Dear God, that long!?! Does T&T need a Visa just to go on vacation to the U.S.? Am I happy we don't need a visa to travel to the U.S.

A388

It's even worse at the US embassy in BGI, somewhere close to a 2 year wait for an appointment.

Brickell305 wrote:

I am confused by all of this. Isn’t the two plane operation they have now the new entity? I thought 1974 had already been put to bed and what’s flying now is 2020. If that’s not the case, what does that mean for their current ops?

Actually no. LIAT 1974 Ltd is still very much alive. Long story short, back in June 2020, the shareholders (BGI & SVD only as ANU was outvoted) voted to liquidate LIAT. To stop this, in July 2020, ANU passed an amended company's act akin to US Chap 11. LI was then placed into administration. ANU basically took control of the company and BGI & SVD literally took a back seat. In November 2020, a severely downsized LI now down to 3 planes started a 1 plane schedule which basically continues up to today. 2 planes are now serviceable and the 3rd is undergoing c-check. Fast forward to August 2022, ANU/BGI/SVD finally agreed to liquidate (again basically) and form a new company Liat 2020 ltd. Apart from ANU, it is unclear if any new govt will be apart of this new company. Its clear BGI and SVD want out.

Thanks for the explanation on LI.

Re the visas, that is insane and it’s only going to get worse as more people’s visas expire as time passes.

LimaFoxTango wrote:

A388 wrote:

Brickell305 wrote:

It’s not just forex issues. The US embassy in Trinidad is currently backlogged about 7-8 months for visa applications. That is to say if you begin the process now, your interview and final approval won’t take place until March/April of next year. That will inhibit demand for travel to/via the US as well.

Dear God, that long!?! Does T&T need a Visa just to go on vacation to the U.S.? Am I happy we don't need a visa to travel to the U.S.

A388

It's even worse at the US embassy in BGI, somewhere close to a 2 year wait for an appointment.

As Brickell305 said, that is insane. Dear God, that sucks if I want to go on vacation to the US but I have to plan it 2 years ahead of time. Who knows the financial situation will be totally different in 2 years from now. How can one even plan such a thing so long in advance.

A388

BA will be adding Sunday flights this winter to Grenada via Antigua. There is a year-round schedule of LGW-UVF-GND on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and from 30 October 2022 to 19 March 2023 BA will operate LGW-ANU-GND. All lights will be operated with 3-class 336-seat 777-200ERs.

DeltaMD95 wrote:

The 717 would make for an opportunistic acquisition for BW. Delta’s Fleet SVP is on record with an extended service outlook to 2029-2031. This means near-term parts/support/infrastructure are not a concern.

The 717s are likely to stick around until 2029/31, said fleet SVP Mahendra Nair.

https://mobile.twitter.com/byerussell/s ... 2521376768

Furthermore, GlobalX have been rumored to have acquired 10 former Volotea frames with service entry slated for October 2022.

This leaves a well cared for fleet with Qantas plus the remaining lower cycle late build Volotea aircraft available at presumably very attractive rates. BW could work out an arrangement with Delta for services and support (similar to GlobalX). ATL is not too far from the Caribbean, after all. Could be a golden out-of-the-box fleet acquisition strategy for BW. We know the 717 is optimal for the short haul, high cycle, quick turnaround assignments. Delta’s commitment to end of decade and GlobalX’s planned acquisition strengthen the viability for the next 7-8 years, at least. Not to mention HA’s loyalty, who may be the final operator one day.

Finally an ally. BW would be able to acquire these frames rather cheap and fly them till the end of the decade at a minimum.

embraer175e2 wrote:

Cal loosing millions of us dollars on the airbridge.

https://www.facebook.com/50392437640785 ... NFYjy2nUl/

What will the management do in order to stop the moneyloss?

embraer175e2 wrote:

embraer175e2 wrote:

Cal loosing millions of us dollars on the airbridge.

https://www.facebook.com/50392437640785 ... NFYjy2nUl/

What will the management do in order to stop the moneyloss?

Nothing. The air bridge is an essential service akin to the NY subway system. The government will just have to subsidize it. The fare charged on those flights will never cover the costs. I do find however the quoted cost of $17,000usd per block hour for the ATR seems extraordinarily high to me.

British Airways load 3 new routes from London Gatwick for Summer 2023:

Aruba via Antigua - 2x weekly flights
Georgetown via St Lucia - 2x weekly
Port of Spain - 3x weekly (replaces via UVF)

It seems from March 2023, BA will be flying POS/LGW non stop three times a week (Tues, Thur, Sun)
BA2239 LGW 0930-1340 POS (Tue, Thu & Sun)

BA2238 POS 1540-0515+1 LGW (Tue, Thu & Sun)
Route replaces LGW-UVF-POS

I wonder if this is an attempt to compete with KLM or the loads on POS/LGW are just high???? Overall good news for POS passengers

In addition BA, will be adding LGW/UVF/GEO.
This route will be twice weekly
British Airways - London Gatwick to Georgetown (via St Lucia). Flights start March 2023

BA2159 LGW 1135-1525 UVF 1625-1805 GEO (Mon & Thu)

BA2158 GEO 1950-2115 UVF 2215-1145+1 LGW (Mon & Thu)

British Airways - London Gatwick to Aruba (via Antigua). Flights start 26 March 2023

BA2157 LGW 1000-1335 ANU 1435-1630 AUA (Thu & Sun)

BA2256 AUA 1830-2015 ANU 2115-1015+1 LGW (Thu & Sun)

trini81 wrote:

It seems from March 2023, BA will be flying POS/LGW non stop three times a week (Tues, Thur, Sun)
BA2239 LGW 0930-1340 POS (Tue, Thu & Sun)

BA2238 POS 1540-0515+1 LGW (Tue, Thu & Sun)
Route replaces LGW-UVF-POS

In addition to this, BA are introducing flights to Aruba (via Antigua) and Georgetown, Guyana(via UVF).

trini81 wrote:

British Airways load 3 new routes from London Gatwick for Summer 2023:

Aruba via Antigua - 2x weekly flights
Georgetown via St Lucia - 2x weekly
Port of Spain - 3x weekly (replaces via UVF)

It seems from March 2023, BA will be flying POS/LGW non stop three times a week (Tues, Thur, Sun)
BA2239 LGW 0930-1340 POS (Tue, Thu & Sun)

BA2238 POS 1540-0515+1 LGW (Tue, Thu & Sun)
Route replaces LGW-UVF-POS

I wonder if this is an attempt to compete with KLM or the loads on POS/LGW are just high???? Overall good news for POS passengers

In addition BA, will be adding LGW/UVF/GEO.
This route will be twice weekly
British Airways - London Gatwick to Georgetown (via St Lucia). Flights start March 2023

BA2159 LGW 1135-1525 UVF 1625-1805 GEO (Mon & Thu)

BA2158 GEO 1950-2115 UVF 2215-1145+1 LGW (Mon & Thu)

British Airways - London Gatwick to Aruba (via Antigua). Flights start 26 March 2023

BA2157 LGW 1000-1335 ANU 1435-1630 AUA (Thu & Sun)

BA2256 AUA 1830-2015 ANU 2115-1015+1 LGW (Thu & Sun)

Im guessing the Thu and Sun ANU-PLS-ANU is axed?

LimaFoxTango wrote:

Im guessing the Thu and Sun ANU-PLS-ANU is axed?

PLS will operate via NAS from LHR.

LimaFoxTango wrote:

trini81 wrote:

British Airways load 3 new routes from London Gatwick for Summer 2023:

Aruba via Antigua - 2x weekly flights
Georgetown via St Lucia - 2x weekly
Port of Spain - 3x weekly (replaces via UVF)

It seems from March 2023, BA will be flying POS/LGW non stop three times a week (Tues, Thur, Sun)
BA2239 LGW 0930-1340 POS (Tue, Thu & Sun)

BA2238 POS 1540-0515+1 LGW (Tue, Thu & Sun)
Route replaces LGW-UVF-POS

I wonder if this is an attempt to compete with KLM or the loads on POS/LGW are just high???? Overall good news for POS passengers

In addition BA, will be adding LGW/UVF/GEO.
This route will be twice weekly
British Airways - London Gatwick to Georgetown (via St Lucia). Flights start March 2023

BA2159 LGW 1135-1525 UVF 1625-1805 GEO (Mon & Thu)

BA2158 GEO 1950-2115 UVF 2215-1145+1 LGW (Mon & Thu)

British Airways - London Gatwick to Aruba (via Antigua). Flights start 26 March 2023

BA2157 LGW 1000-1335 ANU 1435-1630 AUA (Thu & Sun)

BA2256 AUA 1830-2015 ANU 2115-1015+1 LGW (Thu & Sun)

Im guessing the Thu and Sun ANU-PLS-ANU is axed?

Yes it has been axed and replaced.
British Airways to terminate its London Gatwick to Providenciales (via Antigua) route at the end of October 2022 and launch London Heathrow to Providenciales (via Nassau)

LimaFoxTango wrote:

embraer175e2 wrote:

embraer175e2 wrote:

Cal loosing millions of us dollars on the airbridge.

https://www.facebook.com/50392437640785 ... NFYjy2nUl/

What will the management do in order to stop the moneyloss?

Nothing. The air bridge is an essential service akin to the NY subway system. The government will just have to subsidize it. The fare charged on those flights will never cover the costs. I do find however the quoted cost of $17,000usd per block hour for the ATR seems extraordinarily high to me.

The 17000 per block hour on the air bridge is believable because of the cycles. Increased general wear and tear, increased hot section inspections and other cycle limited parts.

trini81 wrote:

British Airways load 3 new routes from London Gatwick for Summer 2023:

Aruba via Antigua - 2x weekly flights
Georgetown via St Lucia - 2x weekly
Port of Spain - 3x weekly (replaces via UVF)

It seems from March 2023, BA will be flying POS/LGW non stop three times a week (Tues, Thur, Sun)
BA2239 LGW 0930-1340 POS (Tue, Thu & Sun)

BA2238 POS 1540-0515+1 LGW (Tue, Thu & Sun)
Route replaces LGW-UVF-POS

I wonder if this is an attempt to compete with KLM or the loads on POS/LGW are just high???? Overall good news for POS passengers

In addition BA, will be adding LGW/UVF/GEO.
This route will be twice weekly
British Airways - London Gatwick to Georgetown (via St Lucia). Flights start March 2023

BA2159 LGW 1135-1525 UVF 1625-1805 GEO (Mon & Thu)

BA2158 GEO 1950-2115 UVF 2215-1145+1 LGW (Mon & Thu)

British Airways - London Gatwick to Aruba (via Antigua). Flights start 26 March 2023

BA2157 LGW 1000-1335 ANU 1435-1630 AUA (Thu & Sun)

BA2256 AUA 1830-2015 ANU 2115-1015+1 LGW (Thu & Sun)

One casualty of this change is the POS-St Lucia market. Currently BA has five flights between POS/UVF and CAL has two flights POS/SLU. A lot of packages and tours from POS are sold to St lucia using the BA flight as it is significantly cheaper and more frequency. Hopefully CAL puts on additional flights on the POS/SLU segment.

trini81 wrote:

British Airways load 3 new routes from London Gatwick for Summer 2023:

Aruba via Antigua - 2x weekly flights
Georgetown via St Lucia - 2x weekly
Port of Spain - 3x weekly (replaces via UVF)

It seems from March 2023, BA will be flying POS/LGW non stop three times a week (Tues, Thur, Sun)
BA2239 LGW 0930-1340 POS (Tue, Thu & Sun)

BA2238 POS 1540-0515+1 LGW (Tue, Thu & Sun)
Route replaces LGW-UVF-POS

I wonder if this is an attempt to compete with KLM or the loads on POS/LGW are just high???? Overall good news for POS passengers

In addition BA, will be adding LGW/UVF/GEO.
This route will be twice weekly
British Airways - London Gatwick to Georgetown (via St Lucia). Flights start March 2023

BA2159 LGW 1135-1525 UVF 1625-1805 GEO (Mon & Thu)

BA2158 GEO 1950-2115 UVF 2215-1145+1 LGW (Mon & Thu)

British Airways - London Gatwick to Aruba (via Antigua). Flights start 26 March 2023

BA2157 LGW 1000-1335 ANU 1435-1630 AUA (Thu & Sun)

BA2256 AUA 1830-2015 ANU 2115-1015+1 LGW (Thu & Sun)

This is some unexpected expansion by BA. While most of it is shifting capacity, it seems the net effect is 2 new Destinations- AUA and GEO and three additional 777s a week to the region (to POS).
It also represents significant capacity increase for POS and the first European direct flight to GEO.
Very exciting! Good luck to BA with these flights.

Cheers,
AA1818

trini81 wrote:

British Airways load 3 new routes from London Gatwick for Summer 2023:

Aruba via Antigua - 2x weekly flights
Georgetown via St Lucia - 2x weekly
Port of Spain - 3x weekly (replaces via UVF)

It seems from March 2023, BA will be flying POS/LGW non stop three times a week (Tues, Thur, Sun)
BA2239 LGW 0930-1340 POS (Tue, Thu & Sun)

BA2238 POS 1540-0515+1 LGW (Tue, Thu & Sun)
Route replaces LGW-UVF-POS

I wonder if this is an attempt to compete with KLM or the loads on POS/LGW are just high???? Overall good news for POS passengers

In addition BA, will be adding LGW/UVF/GEO.
This route will be twice weekly
British Airways - London Gatwick to Georgetown (via St Lucia). Flights start March 2023

BA2159 LGW 1135-1525 UVF 1625-1805 GEO (Mon & Thu)

BA2158 GEO 1950-2115 UVF 2215-1145+1 LGW (Mon & Thu)

British Airways - London Gatwick to Aruba (via Antigua). Flights start 26 March 2023

BA2157 LGW 1000-1335 ANU 1435-1630 AUA (Thu & Sun)

BA2256 AUA 1830-2015 ANU 2115-1015+1 LGW (Thu & Sun)

Unfortunately for me I must reschedule with BW, I often used POS-UVF during the summer.

trini81 wrote:

British Airways load 3 new routes from London Gatwick for Summer 2023:

Aruba via Antigua - 2x weekly flights
Georgetown via St Lucia - 2x weekly
Port of Spain - 3x weekly (replaces via UVF)

It seems from March 2023, BA will be flying POS/LGW non stop three times a week (Tues, Thur, Sun)
BA2239 LGW 0930-1340 POS (Tue, Thu & Sun)

BA2238 POS 1540-0515+1 LGW (Tue, Thu & Sun)
Route replaces LGW-UVF-POS

I wonder if this is an attempt to compete with KLM or the loads on POS/LGW are just high???? Overall good news for POS passengers

In addition BA, will be adding LGW/UVF/GEO.
This route will be twice weekly
British Airways - London Gatwick to Georgetown (via St Lucia). Flights start March 2023

BA2159 LGW 1135-1525 UVF 1625-1805 GEO (Mon & Thu)

BA2158 GEO 1950-2115 UVF 2215-1145+1 LGW (Mon & Thu)

British Airways - London Gatwick to Aruba (via Antigua). Flights start 26 March 2023

BA2157 LGW 1000-1335 ANU 1435-1630 AUA (Thu & Sun)

BA2256 AUA 1830-2015 ANU 2115-1015+1 LGW (Thu & Sun)

Nice additions, but I doubt its to compete with KLM since KLM is forward connections in AMS which BA does not have in LGW. If the flights came from LHR then that would have been seen as a shot to KLM.
Nice job to add AUA and GEO, i though that VS would have added GEO since they were looking at the route VIA BGI or ANU.

It looks like BW is starting to add their Winter schedule with some increases in flights from November, so far:
JFK
POS-JFK will go from 7w to 12w with the Morning POS departure and evening JFK Departure returning
KIN-JFK will go 4W to 6W with 2 red eyes being added
MBJ-JFK will go 2w to 4W with a rotation of 2 morning departure and 2 evening departure from JFK

SLU
POS-SLU going from 2w to 3w
BGI-SLU is being introduced in Nov

trini81 wrote:

One casualty of this change is the POS-St Lucia market. Currently BA has five flights between POS/UVF and CAL has two flights POS/SLU. A lot of packages and tours from POS are sold to St lucia using the BA flight as it is significantly cheaper and more frequency. Hopefully CAL puts on additional flights on the POS/SLU segment.

Interesting point.
CAL have 7 months to ramp up SLU. I suspect we will eventually see a POS-SLU flight daily- at least by March 2023 in order to capture the traffic.
GND capacity is still well below what it used to be.

I appreciate CAL is taking a cautious and conservative approach to capacity restoration given the challenges airlines worldwide are experiencing. I do look forward to a more robust Caribbean network on CAL that is financially sustainable and operationally efficient.

On another note, I called InterCaribbean Airways today and the next available seat on BGI-GND is August 22nd!!!!! I was hoping to go for this coming weekend. They have a great opportunity to also sustainably serve the region, but they can't do it alone.

caribbean484 wrote:

It looks like BW is starting to add their Winter schedule with some increases in flights from November, so far:
JFK
POS-JFK will go from 7w to 12w with the Morning POS departure and evening JFK Departure returning
KIN-JFK will go 4W to 6W with 2 red eyes being added
MBJ-JFK will go 2w to 4W with a rotation of 2 morning departure and 2 evening departure from JFK

SLU
POS-SLU going from 2w to 3w
BGI-SLU is being introduced in Nov

Nice increases from CAL.

@caribny I suspect we will see a continuous ramp up of flights both regional and extra-regional over the next twelve months. Demand is certainly returning quickly. Capacity constraint will be key to managing yields and operational effectiveness.

Cheers,
AA1818

trini81 wrote:

British Airways load 3 new routes from London Gatwick for Summer 2023:

Aruba via Antigua - 2x weekly flights
Georgetown via St Lucia - 2x weekly
Port of Spain - 3x weekly (replaces via UVF)

It seems from March 2023, BA will be flying POS/LGW non stop three times a week (Tues, Thur, Sun)
BA2239 LGW 0930-1340 POS (Tue, Thu & Sun)

BA2238 POS 1540-0515+1 LGW (Tue, Thu & Sun)
Route replaces LGW-UVF-POS

I wonder if this is an attempt to compete with KLM or the loads on POS/LGW are just high???? Overall good news for POS passengers

In addition BA, will be adding LGW/UVF/GEO.
This route will be twice weekly
British Airways - London Gatwick to Georgetown (via St Lucia). Flights start March 2023

BA2159 LGW 1135-1525 UVF 1625-1805 GEO (Mon & Thu)

BA2158 GEO 1950-2115 UVF 2215-1145+1 LGW (Mon & Thu)

British Airways - London Gatwick to Aruba (via Antigua). Flights start 26 March 2023

BA2157 LGW 1000-1335 ANU 1435-1630 AUA (Thu & Sun)

BA2256 AUA 1830-2015 ANU 2115-1015+1 LGW (Thu & Sun)

BA will retain its daily LGW-UVF flights in summer 2023:
• The Monday and Friday LGW-ANU-TAB flights will switch to Tuesday and Friday LGW-UVF-TAB flights on 28 March 2023.
• The year-round Wednesday and Saturday LGW-UVF-GND flights will continue.
• The Monday and Thursday LGW-UVF-GEO flights will commence on 27 March 2023.
• The Sunday flights will terminate at UVF, much to the relief of crew who dislike the UVF shuttles.

ANU will be worse off compared with summer 2022 regarding frequency as there is now a daily flight but none on Tuesdays and Fridays in summer 2023.

LGW-PUJ will continue to be 3x weekly.

LHR-BGI will continue to be daily.

trini81 wrote:

British Airways load 3 new routes from London Gatwick for Summer 2023:

Aruba via Antigua - 2x weekly flights
Georgetown via St Lucia - 2x weekly
Port of Spain - 3x weekly (replaces via UVF)

It seems from March 2023, BA will be flying POS/LGW non stop three times a week (Tues, Thur, Sun)
BA2239 LGW 0930-1340 POS (Tue, Thu & Sun)

BA2238 POS 1540-0515+1 LGW (Tue, Thu & Sun)
Route replaces LGW-UVF-POS

I wonder if this is an attempt to compete with KLM or the loads on POS/LGW are just high???? Overall good news for POS passengers

In addition BA, will be adding LGW/UVF/GEO.
This route will be twice weekly

British Airways - London Gatwick to Georgetown (via St Lucia). Flights start March 2023

BA2159 LGW 1135-1525 UVF 1625-1805 GEO (Mon & Thu)

BA2158 GEO 1950-2115 UVF 2215-1145+1 LGW (Mon & Thu)

British Airways - London Gatwick to Aruba (via Antigua). Flights start 26 March 2023

BA2157 LGW 1000-1335 ANU 1435-1630 AUA (Thu & Sun)

BA2256 AUA 1830-2015 ANU 2115-1015+1 LGW (Thu & Sun)

Well this is quite a realignment of BA's regional network. Let's look at each route in turn. First (and perhaps of most personal relevance to myself) POS goes to 3 weekly nonstops from LGW. At first glance this reduces the frequency of POS-LGW from 5/week to 3 but there is a net increase of capacity as there is no longer sharing with UVF. One factor that could be behind this, alongside increasing passenger demand, is air cargo - POS is the largest air cargo centre in the Anglophone Eastern Caribbean. There is the possibility of flights being able to carry more cargo on the nonstops rather than capacity being lost due to baggage to UVF taking space. The question of whether this is a response to KL on POS-AMS is valid - while KL offers connections over AMS bear in mind that many UK destinations (including LHR) are included in this. Bear in mind that when KL previously served POS they effectively competed with BWIA and BA for the London / UK market and offered low-cost stopovers in AMS as an incentive to use them.

As mentioned, this shift means the end of the busiest of the regional shuttles, POS-UVF. I mentioned the size of this route previously and while some disagreed (reasonably to be fair), the reality is that at holiday times it carries a lot of passengers. On my flight back to the UK last Sunday there was a sizeable number of passengers who flew just the POS-UVF shuttle. 5 weekly 777 flights on BA are currently contrasted with 2 weekly BW ATRs to SLU (pre-COVID there was 1 daily on BW and 1 daily on LI on ATR 42 or 72). BW has indicated, as mentioned elsewhere, that it plans to go to 3/week on the SLU route from the winter. Perhaps it would return to daily in due course. One could argue whether some of the holiday packages would shift to using the TAB-UVF services but doing so would put additional strain on the Airbridge.

UVF thus goes daily with 1 completely dedicated service per week with other days seeing tags to GEO and TAB along with the long-running GND, all twice weekly. GEO is the big headline here with BA returning after 38 years. GEO is the growth market in the region right now with new business opportunities arising and BA are in a great position to capture this traffic from the UK and beyond. Of course LGW not being a major connection hub is an issue but, if that's the route to get to GEO, those who need to would get to LGW one way or another.

ANU drops to 5/week with 2 weekly to SKB and 2 to AUA. The latter is a new destination for BA and another headline grabber. At present BY is the sole operator between the UK and AUA. With this route AUA is likely to gain additional UK visitors and thus broaden its appeal - it is often thought-of as a US-centric destination. One good question is whether BA will have 5th freedom rights on ANU-AUA as they do on the other shuttles. This route does not have the BOAC legacy which basically enables the other shuttles to operate on grandfather rights. ANU's drop to 5 flights is intriguing - it has traditionally been one of the more popular Eastern Caribbean islands for UK travellers. Has something changed recently? Or is it that competition from VS, who are absent from UVF for example, is hitting them on the ANU route?

PLS basically returns to its traditional routing via NAS on a route out of LHR. As a rather high-end destination it appears to fit better at LHR. The same can be said of BGI which now appears to be firmly established at LHR. The need for First there is the driver as this class of travel is no longer offered out of LGW (the 777s based there are all 3-class).

All the best to BA and all of the islands and nations concerned. May these routes be successful.

Trintocan.

trintocan wrote:

ANU drops to 5/week with 2 weekly to SKB and 2 to AUA. The latter is a new destination for BA and another headline grabber. At present BY is the sole operator between the UK and AUA. With this route AUA is likely to gain additional UK visitors and thus broaden its appeal - it is often thought-of as a US-centric destination. One good question is whether BA will have 5th freedom rights on ANU-AUA as they do on the other shuttles. This route does not have the BOAC legacy which basically enables the other shuttles to operate on grandfather rights. ANU's drop to 5 flights is intriguing - it has traditionally been one of the more popular Eastern Caribbean islands for UK travellers. Has something changed recently? Or is it that competition from VS, who are absent from UVF for example, is hitting them on the ANU route?

ANU also now gains a weekly tag to GND so the Spice Island has 3 weekly BA services.

Trintocan.

gunnerman wrote:

trini81 wrote:

British Airways load 3 new routes from London Gatwick for Summer 2023:

Aruba via Antigua - 2x weekly flights
Georgetown via St Lucia - 2x weekly
Port of Spain - 3x weekly (replaces via UVF)

It seems from March 2023, BA will be flying POS/LGW non stop three times a week (Tues, Thur, Sun)
BA2239 LGW 0930-1340 POS (Tue, Thu & Sun)

BA2238 POS 1540-0515+1 LGW (Tue, Thu & Sun)
Route replaces LGW-UVF-POS

I wonder if this is an attempt to compete with KLM or the loads on POS/LGW are just high???? Overall good news for POS passengers

In addition BA, will be adding LGW/UVF/GEO.
This route will be twice weekly
British Airways - London Gatwick to Georgetown (via St Lucia). Flights start March 2023

BA2159 LGW 1135-1525 UVF 1625-1805 GEO (Mon & Thu)

BA2158 GEO 1950-2115 UVF 2215-1145+1 LGW (Mon & Thu)

British Airways - London Gatwick to Aruba (via Antigua). Flights start 26 March 2023

BA2157 LGW 1000-1335 ANU 1435-1630 AUA (Thu & Sun)

BA2256 AUA 1830-2015 ANU 2115-1015+1 LGW (Thu & Sun)

BA will retain its daily LGW-UVF flights in summer 2023:
• The Monday and Friday LGW-ANU-TAB flights will switch to Tuesday and Friday LGW-UVF-TAB flights on 28 March 2023.
• The year-round Wednesday and Saturday LGW-UVF-GND flights will continue.
• The Monday and Thursday LGW-UVF-GEO flights will commence on 27 March 2023.
• The Sunday flights will terminate at UVF, much to the relief of crew who dislike the UVF shuttles.

ANU will be worse off compared with summer 2022 regarding frequency as there is now a daily flight but none on Tuesdays and Fridays in summer 2023.

LGW-PUJ will continue to be 3x weekly.

LHR-BGI will continue to be daily.

The Sunday BA LGW/UVF flight tags on to GND and will not terminate at UVF. GND will therefore maintain the increased flights being introduced this winter, 3X weekly, Sat,Sun Wed through summer 2023.
As already noted there will be LGW/UVF/GEO- Mon,Thu and LGW/UVF/TAB - Tue,Fri equating to a daily LGW/UVF flight with tag ons each day. Ideal positioning by BA in UVF since VS LHR/UVF remains seasonal only with flights late Oct, 2022 to late March, 2023 similar to the 2021/2022 offering.

ANU schedule as of now will be 5X weekly LGW/ANU/SKB - wed, sat, LGW/ANU/AUA - Thur, Sun, LGW/ANU terminator on Mondays

trintocan wrote:

trintocan wrote:

ANU drops to 5/week with 2 weekly to SKB and 2 to AUA. The latter is a new destination for BA and another headline grabber. At present BY is the sole operator between the UK and AUA. With this route AUA is likely to gain additional UK visitors and thus broaden its appeal - it is often thought-of as a US-centric destination. One good question is whether BA will have 5th freedom rights on ANU-AUA as they do on the other shuttles. This route does not have the BOAC legacy which basically enables the other shuttles to operate on grandfather rights. ANU's drop to 5 flights is intriguing - it has traditionally been one of the more popular Eastern Caribbean islands for UK travellers. Has something changed recently? Or is it that competition from VS, who are absent from UVF for example, is hitting them on the ANU route?

ANU also now gains a weekly tag to GND so the Spice Island has 3 weekly BA services.

Trintocan.

Not really, it will merely replace one of the LGW/ANU/PLS tags which will move to LHR. There is no net increase in flights or tag ons.
BA frequently schedules tag ons through ANU....SKB,TAB,PLS PUJ presently, GND,POS as recently as 2021 and way back in history some of the UVF, BGI flights... among others.

I said that B6 and AA on GEO from NYC were being driven by the oil but another user insists that it was because of BW charging ridiculous fares. Yes, they may have had a monopoly and priced accordingly but its ignorant to just ignore the new found natural resources and subsequent interest in GEO from carriers. Look even BA is joining in the fun, but I suppose that's also because of BWs prices eh

wadadli wrote:

The Sunday BA LGW/UVF flight tags on to GND and will not terminate at UVF. GND will therefore maintain the increased flights being introduced this winter, 3X weekly, Sat,Sun Wed through summer 2023.
As already noted there will be LGW/UVF/GEO- Mon,Thu and LGW/UVF/TAB - Tue,Fri equating to a daily LGW/UVF flight with tag ons each day. Ideal positioning by BA in UVF since VS LHR/UVF remains seasonal only with flights late Oct, 2022 to late March, 2023 similar to the 2021/2022 offering.

ANU schedule as of now will be 5X weekly LGW/ANU/SKB - wed, sat, LGW/ANU/AUA - Thur, Sun, LGW/ANU terminator on Mondays

I stand corrected, the third GND flight operates via ANU in the winter then moves to UVF in the summer. It thus leaves ANU with a weekly dedicated terminator and UVF fully tagged.

Trintocan.

trini81 wrote:

British Airways load 3 new routes from London Gatwick for Summer 2023:

Georgetown via St Lucia - 2x weekly
news for POS passengers

British Airways - London Gatwick to Georgetown (via St Lucia). Flights start March 2023

BA2159 LGW 1135-1525 UVF 1625-1805 GEO (Mon & Thu)

BA2158 GEO 1950-2115 UVF 2215-1145+1 LGW (Mon & Thu)

Great news I will be on this route . Good timings and choices of product too.

maverick4002 wrote:

I said that B6 and AA on GEO from NYC were being driven by the oil but another user insists that it was because of BW charging ridiculous fares. Yes, they may have had a monopoly and priced accordingly but its ignorant to just ignore the new found natural resources and subsequent interest in GEO from carriers. Look even BA is joining in the fun, but I suppose that's also because of BWs prices eh

I’m inclined to agree with his assessment on NYC-Guyana. It’s not an oil route. Similar to how NYC-Trinidad isn’t an oil route. There is some oil related traffic ex London as there are British oil companies.

Its not an oil route as in oil execs, but the money is clearly starting to flow through the country increasing the tendency of people to fly abroad. Why else is AA, B6 and BA now suddenly joining in the past two years?

maverick4002 wrote:

Its not an oil route as in oil execs, but the money is clearly starting to flow through the country increasing the tendency of people to fly abroad. Why else is AA, B6 and BA now suddenly joining in the past two years?

I am skeptical of that thinking too as the overwhelming demand on the route is NYC point of sale, not GEO. Keep in mind that DL flew this route in the past pre-oil production and started complaining about BW's (no longer existent) fuel subsidy. There were also several fly-by-night charters that have since stopped flying and opened the door to more established carriers. B6 starting GEO was inevitable IMO. AA started NYC-GEO after they started MIA-GEO which was the route that was supposed to capture the increased oil traffic and increased wealth in Guyana. I suspect that a lot of the connection traffic they saw at MIA was ex NYC and that was what prompted them to start that route. IMO better examples of Guyana's oil production sparking new routes are the aforementioned MIA-GEO, CM's PTY-GEO, BW's POS-OGL and IAH-GEO and BA's upcoming LGW-GEO.

Caribbean Airlines heavily critized in news outlets, for wasting taxpayers money on the airbridge

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2768886 ... 000910258/

embraer175e2 wrote:

Caribbean Airlines heavily critized in news outlets, for wasting taxpayers money on the airbridge

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2768886 ... 000910258/

Is it BW or the Govt off T&T wasting taxpayers money? The air bridge will never be profitable, regardless of who operates it or whatever aircraft type (even the B717 I see being spoken about here) is used. So, do Trini's was to pay a cheap fare to fly to Tobago for the weekend, or they're willing for the airline to charge an exorbitant fare based on its operating costs?

Does anyone remember the old POS airport terminal? If I recall the BW check in areas was sort of wide open. I wonder if people would get wet it was raining? I loved going to that airport. I would run upstairs to the waving gallery to see the people walking to the plane and then when it starts to move I would run downstairs into that parking lot at the western end to see it take off.
Thats my tbt for today lol

LimaFoxTango wrote:

embraer175e2 wrote:

Caribbean Airlines heavily critized in news outlets, for wasting taxpayers money on the airbridge

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2768886 ... 000910258/

Is it BW or the Govt off T&T wasting taxpayers money? The air bridge will never be profitable, regardless of who operates it or whatever aircraft type (even the B717 I see being spoken about here) is used. So, do Trini's was to pay a cheap fare to fly to Tobago for the weekend, or they're willing for the airline to charge an exorbitant fare based on its operating costs?

I think this is a stupid argument by people who are uninformed. BW could start charging market fares on POS-TAB and while that would be good for BW, it would be terrible for the public and Trinidad and Tobago as a whole. Tobago’s tourism based economy would suffer and essential travel would be significantly more expensive. Is that what people want to see? I’m sure neighboring islands like GND, SLU, SVD and BGI would love for flights to their islands to be relatively less expensive from POS compared to TAB flights as they’d attract more POS based tourists and likely attract more BW flights as a result.

The POS-TAB Airbridge is trending here right now, in modern social media speak. As someone who literally grew up flying the Airbridge regularly to visit family and friends in Tobago (and still do now) here's a perspective.

The Airbridge is a lifeline to Tobago and rather unlike virtually any other air route in the Caribbean. Trinidad & Tobago is a unitary state and not a Federation like St Kitts & Nevis. While Tobago has some measure of autonomy, its 65,000 people remain very dependent on Trinidad for a wide range of services and virtually all of its goods. Many doctors, lawyers, judges, business consultants and the like travel to offices and cases etc. in Tobago to provide services there. In some instances services which are unavailable in Tobago altogether require Tobagonians needing them to travel to POS, sometimes repeatedly. This is what the Airbridge is all about, it is not solely a holidaymaker's route (though that aspect does provide significant traffic during school holiday times).

Trinidad & Tobago are linked by the Airbridge and a ferry service. The ferry service, which runs between Port of Spain and Scarborough Ports, covers 82 miles over 2.5 - 4 hours and is itself critical as Tobago sees very few international cargo ships. A return journey on the ferry starts at US $15 while one can take a car over for US $36 return. Senior citizens in T&T are entitled to use the ferry for free. I will end discussion of this service here except to say that, when the service was shut down in 2017 due to problems with the ships used, the Airbridge had to take the strain of passenger demand. This was when BW called in LI to fly 4-5 daily round-trips to fill the gap over a 6-week period.

The Airbridge currently operates 15-16 return flights daily, down from 20 on average pre-pandemic. The fare is TT $300 or US $45 return for flights which take 15 minutes each way. The fares are regulated and heavily subsidised as a result of the importance of the route to the country. The costs of running the route are, however , much higher as has been alluded to by the numbers quoted elsewhere. In essence the costs of running the route are mostly in US$ (fuel, leasing costs, maintenance etc.) while most of the income on this route is in $TT. Additionally the extremely cycle-intensive nature of the route increases the maintenance costs on the ATRs serving the route, as does the salt-rich environment at TAB. As such, the Airbridge does not run at a profit and never has. This has been known for many years although traditionally this was rarely highlighted aside from the losses that BWIA for instance made as a whole. The issue has been more prominent lately because Caribbean Airlines (BW), which have a more aggressively commercial slant than their predecessors, are more willing to speak out about it. There are however no easy ways to address this.

One could reduce the frequency but this will have deleterious effects given the high traffic levels on the route (750.000 per year on average). Increases of the fares to the oft-quoted break-even fare of about US $90 return would likewise be damaging for the reasons noted above. The video mentions a two-level fare basis with international travellers paying more than locals. That is actually very unfair and could hurt both islands as some people visiting Trinidad decide to pop over to Tobago for a few days (and vice-versa). In any event that would be impossible to enforce if the individuals concerned are already in the country and purchase the tickets there. A start could be to reduce the absolute fluidity of domestic tickets (they are fairly easily interchangeable for different flights and remain valid for a year) although this would not prove popular given the ad hoc nature of travel on such a busy domestic route.

Put succinctly, there are no easy answers to this question. The Caribbean's busiest flight route is likely to remain its most controversial for the foreseeable future. Just remember that, in considering how to manage this route, that Tobago and its people are disproportionately affected by significant changes to it.

Trintocan.

The TAB domestic route is currently subsidised $50TT each way. This puts the total revenue for BW at $400TT on a return trip. BW currently funds the shortfall between that revenue and actual cost through its own operations. Clearly the TT government is unwilling to raise the 50$ subsidy and is willing to let BW sustain the losses which ironically they end up funding through cash injections anyway.
While the subsidy does need adjusting upwards it should also be set at a low enough level that also encourages BW to be as efficient as possible in its operation of the route.

That being said there is more than enough excess capacity on the ferry route. The airbridge should not be seen as essential. A ferry only takes 2.5 hours. This service should be the priority and is already massively subsidized even more than the airbridge. The airbridge has become more of a luxury now as opposed to essential and at $300TT the price is now perceived as low enough after years of inflation that it competes with the ferry which should not be the case.

BW600 wrote:

The TAB domestic route is currently subsidised $50TT each way. This puts the total revenue for BW at $400TT on a return trip. BW currently funds the shortfall between that revenue and actual cost through its own operations. Clearly the TT government is unwilling to raise the 50$ subsidy and is willing to let BW sustain the losses which ironically they end up funding through cash injections anyway.
While the subsidy does need adjusting upwards it should also be set at a low enough level that also encourages BW to be as efficient as possible in its operation of the route.

That being said there is more than enough excess capacity on the ferry route. The airbridge should not be seen as essential. A ferry only takes 2.5 hours. This service should be the priority and is already massively subsidized even more than the airbridge. The airbridge has become more of a luxury now as opposed to essential and at $300TT the price is now perceived as low enough after years of inflation that it competes with the ferry which should not be the case.

Im not going to discuss the virtues of air bridge vs sea, but to say the airbridge should not be seen as essential is one helluva statement. Not everyone has the time for a 2.5hr journey one way. 5 hours of travel is alot of time in a day to "waste" when one just need a day trip. The govt simply needs to raise the airfare to a more reasonable but less subsidised rate. Maybe that will drive people who are on a less time critical trip to use the ferry.

caribbean484 wrote:

It looks like BW is starting to add their Winter schedule with some increases in flights from November, so far:
JFK
POS-JFK will go from 7w to 12w with the Morning POS departure and evening JFK Departure returning
KIN-JFK will go 4W to 6W with 2 red eyes being added
MBJ-JFK will go 2w to 4W with a rotation of 2 morning departure and 2 evening departure from JFK

SLU
POS-SLU going from 2w to 3w
BGI-SLU is being introduced in Nov

Any update on why 9Y-SUR is not in service yet? Regardless it seems like the schedule currently only requires 8 jets but these leases can’t be cheap together with all the idle 737 NG currently parked awaiting lease return that surely they are still paying for.
BW sadly lost out on the opportunity to solidify market share this summer with high yields as well.

caribbean484 wrote:

It looks like BW is starting to add their Winter schedule with some increases in flights from November, so far:
JFK
POS-JFK will go from 7w to 12w with the Morning POS departure and evening JFK Departure returning
KIN-JFK will go 4W to 6W with 2 red eyes being added
MBJ-JFK will go 2w to 4W with a rotation of 2 morning departure and 2 evening departure from JFK

SLU
POS-SLU going from 2w to 3w
BGI-SLU is being introduced in Nov

From BW is also addding a 3rd weekly POS-PBM flight operated with an ATR.

It looks like POS-HAV will also be 3x a week for the winter season.

BW985 wrote:

From BW is also addding a 3rd weekly POS-PBM flight operated with an ATR.

It looks like POS-HAV will also be 3x a week for the winter season.

Nice- is this the first time BW will use the ATR to PBM?
Did BW ever use Dash8's to PBM back in the day?

AA1818

aa1818 wrote:

BW985 wrote:

From BW is also addding a 3rd weekly POS-PBM flight operated with an ATR.

It looks like POS-HAV will also be 3x a week for the winter season.

Nice- is this the first time BW will use the ATR to PBM?
Did BW ever use Dash8's to PBM back in the day?

AA1818

Wasn't PBM launched with the Dash? That being said hopefully things will continue to pick up in the region.

LGW-AUA is an interesting addition. Just how big is the UK-origin tourist market to Aruba? I imagine the largest markets besides North Americans are Dutch and Colombians.

continental004 wrote:

LGW-AUA is an interesting addition. Just how big is the UK-origin tourist market to Aruba? I imagine the largest markets besides North Americans are Dutch and Colombians.

It's Caribbean and probably good value for money. Didn't TUI previously operate this route?

baje427 wrote:

continental004 wrote:

LGW-AUA is an interesting addition. Just how big is the UK-origin tourist market to Aruba? I imagine the largest markets besides North Americans are Dutch and Colombians.

It's Caribbean and probably good value for money. Didn't TUI previously operate this route?

TUI do operate this route, load factors are believed to be pretty good too. A lot of U.K. travellers also go via Amsterdam.

LimaFoxTango wrote:

BW600 wrote:

The TAB domestic route is currently subsidised $50TT each way. This puts the total revenue for BW at $400TT on a return trip. BW currently funds the shortfall between that revenue and actual cost through its own operations. Clearly the TT government is unwilling to raise the 50$ subsidy and is willing to let BW sustain the losses which ironically they end up funding through cash injections anyway.
While the subsidy does need adjusting upwards it should also be set at a low enough level that also encourages BW to be as efficient as possible in its operation of the route.

That being said there is more than enough excess capacity on the ferry route. The airbridge should not be seen as essential. A ferry only takes 2.5 hours. This service should be the priority and is already massively subsidized even more than the airbridge. The airbridge has become more of a luxury now as opposed to essential and at $300TT the price is now perceived as low enough after years of inflation that it competes with the ferry which should not be the case.

Im not going to discuss the virtues of air bridge vs sea, but to say the airbridge should not be seen as essential is one helluva statement. Not everyone has the time for a 2.5hr journey one way. 5 hours of travel is alot of time in a day to "waste" when one just need a day trip. The govt simply needs to raise the airfare to a more reasonable but less subsidised rate. Maybe that will drive people who are on a less time critical trip to use the ferry.

Well the issue here is that if you take into consideration the time to check-In and wait at the airport for the flight you are about 2.5 hrs anyways with the sea service. Now also for those with standby tickets, they would have a long wait for the airbridge service with some people waiting 8 hrs to get on a flight.
Not only that, the airbridge cannot be deemed as essential with significant loses to BW and at the same time the Corporation Sole is telling the airline to be self sustainable with no more subsidies. If that is the case then the airbridge is not essential and rather political with the guise of it being essential.
In my opinion the GORTT has 3 options
1) Continue to subsidize the route at the same level and keep the fares where they are: In that case BW has every right to not increase flights; as a matter fact I would cut the route to 10 daily flights because clearly the Central Government and the THA wants BW to subsidize POS-TAB route from the international operations.
2) Increase the fares/Subsidies: Quite frankly the last time the fare was increased was in the 90's, its time to charge more where the fares should be about TT550-650 to reduce the loses on the route. The other case is The government and the THA can come to an agreement to increase the subsidies to BW from each others budget.
3) Run the route on a commercial/economical basis: At this point the sea service can be run more efficiently and BW cannot be using its profits from other routes to subsidize the airbridge while competing with AA, B6, WS, AC, CM and others. It is unfair to the airline to dedicate most of their resources on a loss leader route.

I am in the camp of 2 or mostly 3, because if the government is telling BW no more subsidies on the airbridge then cut the dam flights and let them form another airline dedicated to the route. We already had that with BW express/Tobago Express and it did not go down well. So its time to raise the fares and cut the loses to an absolute minimum.

BW600 wrote:

caribbean484 wrote:

It looks like BW is starting to add their Winter schedule with some increases in flights from November, so far:
JFK
POS-JFK will go from 7w to 12w with the Morning POS departure and evening JFK Departure returning
KIN-JFK will go 4W to 6W with 2 red eyes being added
MBJ-JFK will go 2w to 4W with a rotation of 2 morning departure and 2 evening departure from JFK

SLU
POS-SLU going from 2w to 3w
BGI-SLU is being introduced in Nov

Any update on why 9Y-SUR is not in service yet? Regardless it seems like the schedule currently only requires 8 jets but these leases can’t be cheap together with all the idle 737 NG currently parked awaiting lease return that surely they are still paying for.
BW sadly lost out on the opportunity to solidify market share this summer with high yields as well.

9Y-SUR is being used for parts as BW cannot get parts fast enough due to supply chain issues. Then the MAXs has had a couple of teething issues mostly from engines with 3 a/c having to remove and replace their engines. 9Y-ANT was the latest to be flown to MIA to have an engine replacement, with the good news of GE/Safran taking the financial burden. SUR should be online by Sep-Oct, which is why they are increasing flights in Nov.
The NGs are awaiting parts also to be returned to their owners in the condition they were agreed upon.
Yes they lost on maximizing their resources for the peak summer but so to has other airlines many don't have the crew, equipment or airport slots reduction to take advantage of the burst in travel. BW has actually played it very safe in their schedule and not have the melt downs their competitors are having or have the past 6 months.