Public hearing on Tobago airbridge

BWIA is so determined to drive Caribbean Star off the Tobago airbridge that it has called for an unprecedented public hearing on the matter. According to Ram  Bissessar, Chairman of the Air Transport Licensing Authority (ATLA), the call for a public hearing was made at a recent meeting of the Authority. BWIA has been joined in its call by Tobago Express and a Tobago hotelier, Allan Clovis. This is the first time in the aviation history of the country that a public hearing will be called to resolve a licensing issue. Several years ago, plans for a similar hearing fell through. At that time the now defunct Air Caribbean was servicing the airbridge. Antigua-based Caribbean Star was granted a provisional licence by ATLA to operate some four and a half flights a day on the airbridge earlier this year.

At that time there were howls of protests from both BWIA and Tobago Express in which it was claimed that there was enough capacity on the route and there was no need for an additional carrier being given rights to operate, especially since that carrier was foreign owned. However, officials at the Tobago House of Assembly and passengers who use the airbridge regularly have been full of praise for the service now being offered by Caribbean Star, moreso on holiday weekends when there was absolute need for increased capacity on the route. As recently as this past Independence weekend, Caribbean Star mounted extra sections to handle the number of requests it had received for seats on the airbridge. A similar situation existed over the Emancipation weekend. A spokesman for caribbean Star said that his airline was able to provide enhancements which Tobago Express was not able to. He explained that Caribbean Star’s flights are available to travel agents locally as well as worldwide and this assists Tobago in selling its tourism product anywhere in the world.

Caribbean Star is a relatively new airline, which began flying regional routes in October, 2000, and has grown rapidly over the last three years as it now links 14 destinations between Tortola in the north and Guyana in the south. Although no date has been fixed for the hearing, Bissessar said that it would be held by the middle of September. If the result of the public hearing demands that the provisional licence granted Caribbean Star be revoked, it would mean decreased capacity on the airbridge, which would become evident during the busier travel seasons and holiday weekends.