Flight hiccup pushes Boyz friendly to Tuesday
MONTEGO BAY, St James — The Reggae Boyz’s friendly international football match away to El Salvador, originally planned for today, was pushed back to Tuesday, after a number of flight cancellations connected with the Miami International Airport yesterday grounded the Jamaicans.
The cancellations were due to the effects of last Wednesday night’s fuel tank fire, which crippled air traffic at America’s second busiest destination for international flights, leaving passengers from South and Central America, as well as the USA, stranded.
Following the cancellation of American Airlines flight 0320 from Montego Bay yesterday, the Boyz were rebooked to travel on the same flight this morning, with the hope of getting into San Salvador in time for the 5:00 pm (6:00 pm) kick off. However, when the airline later cancelled this morning’s flight as well, the two football authorities quickly salvaged the match by rescheduling the game to Tuesday at the same time at the Cuscatlan Stadium.
This was possible because the new date falls within the FIFA international friendly window, and because the El Salvador authorities wanted to honour its television and other contractual obligations.
As a result, the Boyz were scheduled to depart Montego Bay by bus for the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston today for a six o’clock Air Jamaica flight to Fort Lauderdale. They will then travel by bus down to Miami International for an 11:45 am American Airlines flight to San Salvador.
The fuel tank fire is believed to have been caused by an electrical failure in a complex grid of underground pipes that pumps fuel to hundreds of planes each day.
The fire, which blazed into early morning Thursday, is reported to have caused one of the largest flight disruptions in recent years in the area.
American Airlines is said to have been the worst hit, since it operates 70 per cent of flights out of Miami International Airport.
The pushback of the match gives the Boyz added time to recover from their lacklustre 2-0 defeat by Venezuela at the Montego Bay Sports Complex Friday night.
