by Linda Straker
- Government set to negotiate a commercial agreement
- PM prepared to subsidise air travel to Grenada as a destination and to Carriacou
- SVG Airlines receives a monthly payment of EC$105,000
A second airline in the coming months will be offering air travel between Grenada and Carriacou. The Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (ECCAA) has granted approval to InterCaribbean airlines to offer services between Maurice Bishop International and Lauriston airports. The Government is now set to negotiate a commercial agreement.
“We are negotiating with other carriers to address the situation in Carriacou….One of the issues was that the carrier needed to get the safety and regulatory approval from the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority. On Friday evening before I left to come up, I saw a note that approval was granted,” Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell told a town hall meeting held in Carriacou last Saturday.
He was at the time responding to a concern from a citizen who focused on the high cost of travel and the lack of access to air travel to and from Grenada. “So, we now have to negotiate the commercial terms to see if we can get that airline to start flying between Grenada and Carriacou and hopefully throughout the other Grenadines Islands as well, and maybe as things improve, we can get the airlift up between Barbados and Grenada,” he said.
He further disclosed that his government has also reached an agreement with InterCaribbean that will see a new plane on the Grenada route. “I am optimistic however, that we will gradually make improvements. We have reached an agreement with InterCaribbean, and we expect them therefore to put a new plane on the route shortly,” he said.
The Prime Minister said that his government is prepared to subsidise air travel to Grenada as a destination and to Carriacou which is part of the State. He explained that SVG airline is receiving a subsidy for its Carriacou to Grenada route.
Minutes of the Finance Committee meeting of 21 November 2022 show that SVG Airlines receives a monthly payment of EC$105,000.
The Prime Minister said his cabinet decided to subsidise the route in the best interest of access to air travel to and from Carriacou, but even with that offer there is still a problem with the airline. “Even with that subsidisation we still found ourselves in a position where the airline left for reasons that I am not clear on. They still left; they still were unable to provide the service,” he said.
Speaking about the shortage of air travel from Grenada to regional territories, he told the meeting that his government is currently negotiating with other carriers like InterCaribbean to try and beef up travel between Grenada, Barbados, and other islands.
“Caribbean Airlines has thankfully increased to Grenada, but they are still charging at a price which, from their perspective makes the route profitable,” he said.
Absolutely outrageous…while inter-island air travel needs improvement, the people of Grenada must not be held hostage.
This sounds like profiteering and extortion.
Besides CBI, I am yet to see the significant economic investments that will generate revenue to cover this spending spree.