From left: Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Kerrie Symmonds; Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley; and Head of Global Markets at the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., Petra Roach, share a word during yesterday’s event at Ilaro Court.
Scheduled commercial air traffic to Barbados is set to resume on July 12. This is the news coming out of yesterday’s media briefing hosted by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley at her Ilaro Court residence. With the Prime Minister addressing several developments surrounding the nation’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, resumption of regular flights into the Grantley Adams International Airport was one of the biggest talking points
After the island recorded its first case of the viral infection on March 16, a severely crippling blow was dealt to tourism, which has been the country’s main revenue earner for many years. Speaking to the Government’s achievement of bringing the number of confirmed cases down to zero, Prime Minister Mottley said that the next large task ahead of us was the resurrection of the tourism industry.
“Inasmuch as we have been successful in the battle against COVID-19 thus far, it is imperative that we take stock and recognise that we are now at a juncture of yet another challenge. But I’m confident that together we will once again manage, monitor and overcome this crossroad, doing not only what is necessary, but that which is in the very best interest of our beloved Barbados. I speak, my friends, of the prospect of relaxing our border restrictions to allow for scheduled commercial air travel under the strictest of health protocols and guidelines,” she said.
With it being announced that there was a risk-based approach to the protection of the country, its people and visitors and that the airport never completely closed during the past three months, the PM outlined some of the major players that would be coming back into Barbados in the coming weeks.
“We will start with it coming from Canada with the arrival of Air Canada, which will be coming initially twice per week on Thursdays and Sundays. On the 18th of July, British Airways will resume flights into Barbados from Gatwick, London and these flights will initially come at least once per week, but will also respond to demand,” she said, before adding that JetBlue is slated to come from John F. Kennedy in New York at least four times a week from July 25.
Also, Virgin Atlantic is set to resume flights once a week from August 1. She also noted that they had initially expected to start on July 2 with American Airlines out of Miami, but pushed that back to August 5 due to the spike of cases there. As it related to regional travel, Caribbean Airlines is expected to resume in mid-July, while LIAT’s resumption is pending talks today with shareholders. However, the Prime Minister said that there would be a sound solution for travel within the Caribbean. “Suffice it to say that we are committed to ensuring that there will be effective, affordable, reliable and safe inter-regional travel as part of the product mix starting from July,” she said.
Speaking to the special stipulations for travel, Minister of Tourism Kerrie Symmonds stated that before a decision could be taken to resume scheduled commercial traffic, protocols governing accommodations, attractions and people arriving into the country needed to be laid out. With the most important of these related to those travelling here, Symmonds noted that the most pressing of these directives was that a COVID-19 PCR Antigen test needed to be taken and accredited 72 hours prior to the commencement of travel for those from the highest risk points of origin. At the other end of the spectrum, such as within the region, a test needed to be taken and accredited no more than one week prior to the commencement of travel. Failing having a test, one must be administered here and any persons testing positive would be taken into isolation for care.
Minister Symmonds explained that the island needed to move forward, but in the safest way possible. “As we go forward, the reality is that we are trying to reopen the country’s tourism business in a sensitive manner and in a manner which allows for there to be business activity on one hand and the protection of people’s personal health and safety on the other,” he said. (MP)