Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 25, 2023 (SKNIS): Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, the Honourable Dr. Terrance Drew welcomed the inaugural flight of Caribbean Airlines to the Federation during a ceremony at the Kayan Jet Lounge on July 24.
While welcoming Caribbean Airlines, the honourable prime minister emphasized his concerns in relation to regional travel.
He said during his address in the Bahamas at the CARICOM Heads of Government Conference he said that intraregional travel is an issue that must be faced head-on.
“For whatever the legacy issues were, I do not think the people of the Caribbean are willing to continue to hear those,” Prime Minister Dr. Drew said.
Honourable Dr. Drew mentioned one of his constituents who told him about an incident that he suffered while travelling to the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis. He said that his constituent’s flight path from his destination to St. Kitts took him further north than the country to return south later which put a strain on his family.
“Caribbean Airlines, you are not only expanding our tourism product, but you are also keeping families together,” he said.
“When I was in the Bahamas, I told them that if we could not fix it that St. Kitts and Nevis was willing to go on its own of getting the situation resolved because our second largest source of visitors to St. Kitts and Nevis, comes from the region,” said the honourable prime minister.
“It means therefore that if there is no interconnectivity and intraregional travel that is robust enough to maintain those levels, then our tourism product cannot expand and grow and that will affect our economy and our people’s opportunity to advance,” he said.
Prime Minister Dr. Drew added that it was critical that the decision was made to go forward with Caribbean Airlines as these ventures will seek to resolve intraregional travel.
