The Government of Montserrat has extended its contract with WINAIR for another twelve months, ensuring continued air connectivity for the island. However, Premier Reuben T. Meade noted that it will take two months before flights resume due to necessary adjustments at the airport.
Premier Meade confirmed this on the April 1 edition of What’s on Your Mind on ZJB Radio.
“The discussions went very well. WIINAIR will be contracted for a further twelve months, but they will not be in a position to fly into Montserrat for another two months. And the reason for that is because they’re using larger aircraft. We have to increase the number of firefighters per shift at the airport,” the premier explained.
He acknowledged the dedication of the fire department, which had been working extra shifts to facilitate the current service. However, he emphasised the need for additional personnel.
“They helped us during February and March, and I’m very thankful to them. They ran double shifts. They pulled people off vacation leave, etcetera. And we’re most grateful for that support. But we can’t expect them to do that going forward. It’s going to take them possibly two months or thereabouts to train up firefighters, and once those firefighters are up and ready, then we’ll have the flights come.”
WINAIR’s early contract renewal also presents an opportunity for Montserrat to be fully integrated into the airline’s reservation system, which Premier Meade described as a significant advantage for travellers.
“Because we’re contracting them so early, we will be part of the WINAIR system so that they will be doing marketing for us. They have interline arrangements with BA, American Airlines, JetBlue, and I think a couple of others. This would therefore mean that persons traveling from the UK or traveling from the US would not have to go on and search for their bags because they have the direct interline arrangement to do a through traffic from one airline onto the next. And that again is something very, very positive.”
With the discussions taking place early in the planning process, Montserrat can now influence flight scheduling to better meet demand.
“Because we have the discussions so early in their planning period, then we can schedule the flights for December and March from now. So WINAIR should be in a position to provide us with afternoon flights rather than just all morning flights as they were doing for March.”
Progress on Night Flights
The government is also making progress on establishing night flights into Montserrat.
“We have, contracted a company from the UK to come in and do what I consider a turnkey project where they will be looking at what is required and then go and get it done. It’s one of the big airport companies in the United Kingdom, and therefore, they have a raft of expertise in this area.”
Premier Meade highlighted that the move would not only enhance air access but also create employment opportunities.
“Once we can do extended hours at the airport, clearly, it will require additional staff as well, because one would not expect the air traffic controllers to work that late on any shift. It creates employment opportunities as well. And we can start training other air traffic controllers early so that when we have the night flying operations, we should have the full complement of staff as well.”
Recruitment for the necessary fire officers is pending approval from Cabinet.
“The recruitment of staff for the fire officers is awaiting the completion of a Cabinet paper, which I’m hoping will go to Cabinet this week. And once that has been approved, then the fire department will be given the approval to start getting officers to get them trained up.”
SVG Air Expanding Fleet, Fly Montserrat to be Included in Discussions
Premier Meade also provided updates on local airline services, noting that SVG Air is preparing to upgrade its fleet.
“We have pretty much concluded discussions with SVG, and I think they are either on their way to Canada or the United States to procure a Twin Otter because they have to get rid of their Islanders. They just cannot continue to operate the Islanders. So we should then be having WINAIR and SVG with Twin Otters on the route possibly as early as the fire officers [being] ready.”
Fly Montserrat will also be engaged in ongoing access discussions.
“We’re asking the Access Division to continue to have dialogue with Fly Montserrat to ensure that we can also include them in whatever discussions we’re having in terms of access. Once we have these three entities in operation, we should be in a position to handle most of our traffic coming to the island.”
The premier emphasised that these improvements in air service could positively impact future tourism and development opportunities.
“We have said to the hotel speculators – I’ll call them hotel speculators because they’re not yet investing – who came on island on the weekend. We can provide airlift as well, once you have made a consideration for your hotel development here.”
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