BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — Barbados has welcomed the arrival of a new aircraft by the Turks and Caicos based interCaribbean Airway with a call for the island to deepen its transportation ties with Latin America in order to improve trade, tourism and regional influence.

“I want to say to you that we look forward to also discussing how we can open up Latin America and in particular northeastern Brazil,” Prime Minister Mia Mottley said at the unveiling of the new aircraft on Tuesday.

“That has significant implications for us not just in terms of tourism, but also in terms of cargo and in Barbados’ ambition to become an agro-processing hub for the southern and eastern Caribbean and northern Latin America,” she said at the unveiling of the “Spirit of Barbados” aircraft at the Grantley Adams International Airport.

Mottley said that Barbados, once a hub “for the wrong reasons”, must now reposition itself as a genuine gateway for the wider Caribbean, with stronger links across the north of the region.

“Your linkages to the northern Caribbean — to Bahamas, to Turks and Caicos, to Havana in Cuba, to Jamaica — are so important, so that we don’t only operate within the context of the eastern and southern Caribbean, but we claim the entire region as our own.

“We must create opportunities for Bajan businessmen and Bajan travellers, but equally for those coming into Barbados, so that Bajan workers can continue to earn the best possible living,” Mottley said, underscoring also the importance of the tourism sector which provides “almost one in every two dollars of production” in the economy.

“Three times our population almost visits us on an annual basis as long-stay passengers, and almost four times our population visits us for one day, at least in the cruise industry,” she said, recalling the economic fallout during the COVID-19 shutdown.

“We found out the hard way in 2020, that when the tourists stopped coming, all of a sudden the pig farmers didn’t have enough people to buy their pork, and the poultry farmers didn’t have enough people to buy their chicken, and the vegetable farmers and the fruit farmers were not necessarily benefiting from the sales.”

Mottley noted the new duty-free concessions on kitchen and cooking equipment to help small food businesses thrive, keeping tourism’s benefits closer to communities.

“What people love about Barbados is the ability to go through every nook and cranny and to engage with Bajans wherever they are and to feel that earthy warmth that is truly Bajan,” she said, welcoming the announcement by InterCaribbean Airways of its plans to build a maintenance facility at GAIA.

“I’m told that there is an FBO (for the benefit of) arrangement that should be allowing you to build some hangar space on this airport, and it should start, I’m told, in early first quarter of 2026,” she said.

Meanwhile, the airline’s founder, Lyndon Gardiner, said adding another aircraft to the “symbolises the deep and meaningful partnership that has flourished between interCaribbean Airways and this beautiful nation of Barbados over years of shared vision and mutual support”.

“Our journey together began during one of the most challenging periods in recent history. In August 2020, we made the decision to expand in the Southern Caribbean. With the support of the Barbadian government, we established operations here, providing essential air links when few alternatives existed.”

He said that every step of the journey has reinforced the company’s belief in Barbados “as a key hub in our network”.

Gardiner described the new aircraft as “a flying ambassador for Barbados throughout the Caribbean”.

Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc (BTMI), Andrea Franklin, said while the new aircraft is symbolic, it also demonstrates the strength of a five-year relationship that has enhanced Barbados’ connectivity and brand visibility.

“The introduction of the Spirit of Barbados aircraft transcends the simple inauguration of an aircraft into the existing interCaribbean Airways operation. It reflects the strength of the strategic alliance which we as a destination have built with a valued partner.”

Franklin noted that interCaribbean now provides nearly 40 per cent of all available regional seats into Barbados, saying “this is a significant contributor to the ease of movement of individuals between Barbados and the other 17 countries and 23 Caribbean cities which the airline services from this destination”.