REGIONAL air connectivity was yesterday bolstered with InterCaribbean Airways inaugurated scheduled flights from the Turks and Caicos Islands to the Ian Fleming International Airport.

The push to expand travels across Caribbean countries has been significantly heightened since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic and after its hammering of operations in the tourism and travel industries. Regional bodies such as the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) and the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) have been spearheading the push following sharp revenue losses of over US$1 billion to the travel industry and as stakeholders strategise to fuel the recovery process.

Following the landing of its Embraer-120 jet which seats up to 30 passengers, chairman of InterCaribbean Airways Lyndon Gardiner, speaking with the Jamaica Observer on Thursday, said the start of its latest service opens up a whole new gateway for travels within the region and marks the beginning for sharp increases in stopover regional traffic.

“Rather than having to go back to Panama or the United States, we’re making more direct connections within the Caribbean region and that’s helping to push the movement of goods and services across countries,” he told the Caribbean Business Report.

“With our regional network we are delighted to be expanding an attractive range of rides and this expansion of direct flights offers an additional option with continuity and comfort to Jamaica, the Turks and Caicos and beyond. Through this new partnership we will now have the ability to bring people from across the Caribbean whether it is for business, pleasure or for furthering multi-destination vacations as we grow our regional connectivity,” he stated.

Touting the Caribbean as a lucrative destination, Gardiner said the move to expand its services to the Ian Fleming airport is a worthwhile investment. He said that through increased services his airline, as well as other regional carriers, stands to benefit significantly from the influx of tourists always wanting to travel to destinations in the region. The flight from Turks and Caicos, which started with a once per month schedule, will later transition to once weekly.

The airline which already operates across some 16 countries and 26 cities of the Caribbean is further positioning to grow its three-decade-old operation and in new markets. It currently runs a total of up to 14 flights weekly through the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston and operates just under 100 flights throughout the region.

“Serving the Caribbean more than any other airline, I’m proud of our 30-year journey. With networks spanning Havana in the north to Georgetown, Guyana, in the south, we’ve earned our right to boast that only the sun covers the Caribbean better than we do and only the ocean goes to more of its shores,” he said, lauding his mentor and former Caribbean hotel icon Gordon “Butch” Stewart who he credits as being instrumental to a realisation of the dream of having the first commercial flight to the Ian Fleming airport. Stewart had long expressed the view that the airport, if it was to carry out international flights, could be better used to open up new tourism opportunities and economic development in the north-eastern region of the island, given its close proximity to major tourist accommodations and attractions.

Citing structural challenges including the issue of taxes, the chairman said that movements across the Caribbean could become greatly enhanced if these were adjusted.

“We have some challenges as it relates to the cost of flying and the taxes on tickets but we are working with governments in trying to help them understand that if we have lower taxes on ticket prices, that they are going to win in the end because we’ll certainly have more travels and more travel means that we all benefit,” he reasoned, while calling for the easing of some regulatory restrictions which he believes has been blighting the prospects for greater intra-regional movement.

“I certainly believe that we should have a common economic area as it relates to aviation and as a whole in the region as any carrier domiciled in any part of the Caribbean should have free access to move between any of the islands. That is one thing I want to see sorted out so that the airlines can have the ability to grow and to encourage competition.”

Minister of tourism Edmund Bartlett, who was thrilled to have the flights coming to the island, dubbed it a new gateway to the region which he said was also useful in his ministry’s push towards establishing Jamaica as an aviation hub. Like Gardiner, he also expressed the need for greater regional collaboration.

“Part of what needs to be done in the Caribbean to make activities more profitable is to develop a new approach to air transportation and this requires a whole new transportation policy in the region. The political will to do that resides in the Caricom space, but we have to do that if we are to recover stronger and better,” Bartlett said.