American Airlines have taken a decision to cut its daily flights to Antigua from Miami on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the month of September and October citing significantly lower demand, information from an Airline source have informed.
The Airlines source further explained that they have not as of yet made a decision if these flights will be resumed in November or if the elimination of the Tuesday and Wednesday flights will be for a longer period.
Joseph Capella a travel agent with knowledge of the United States travel market stated “the inability for Antigua to test travelers for COVID-19 upon arrival at the VC Bird International Airport, combined with the lack of testing availability and delayed testing results in the US has significantly limited the number of leisure travelers coming to Antigua”.
Capella went on to state “the confusion about the testing requirements in Antigua and the region as a whole has given mixed messages to travelers, making it much more difficult to understand the travel requirements”.
The cancellation of these flights have left a few hoteliers concerned of with Miami been the main port to the United States Market we spoke to the owners of Hodges bay and Elite Island Group who expressed their concern.
“The cancelling of the Tuesday and Wednesday flight mean a lot more than just less airlift in the short term”, said Jeff Wellemeyer, Chairman of Hodges Bay Resort & Spa, “It is absolutely critical that we get the daily New York flights resumed as quickly as possible and having American Airlines cut their schedule for the normally packed Miami flight, is not a good sign that they will resume other flights quickly. This could really set us back.”
When asked if he thought the lack of testing at the airport in Antigua has affected travel into the country, Wellemeyer responded, “I just don’t know how many more times I can say it.”
Mr. Robert Barrett, Chairman of the Elite Group one of the largest operators on island, when contact expressed the view that “its a moving target and everything is very fluid. We have been seeing a few cancelation”, he further said that we might be lucky if they maintain the five days because of the demand for seats in the market and availability of rooms. He explains that the airlines ability to make a profit or even break even is dependent upon persons traveling, and its extremely difficult to get tested in the US”.
We reached out to Colin James of the Tourism Authority for a comment but he was away and up to press time was did not afford us comment.
