The island of St. Vincent in the Grenadines will be getting a new airport in 2012: the new Argyle International Airport will feature a longer runway and a new 123,000-square-foot terminal building, about four times larger than the existing facility.
Local officials hope the new airport will attract direct flights from North America and Europe to the main gateway to the Grenadines; the current runway can only handle smaller, inter-island aircraft.
Meanwhile, Dominica’s airport has recently been upgraded to allow night flights, which should also provide a boost to tourism. Landings will now be permitted up till 10 p.m.
Grenadines Getting New Airport; Night Flights to Dominica
While the ability for night landing in Dominica is an extension of time flights can land and take off, it is not the new and historic event that it is been made out to be. There have been landings and take-off both at canefield in the south and Melville Hall in the north east as late as 9:00 pm before.
But how does this improved facility assist the cost of travel to and from Dominica by air? Actually, travelers to Dominica may be called upon to pay additional fares, since the night landing has not facilitated direct flights to and from Dominica to International Destinations, and LIAT (Leave Islands Any Time) with its inter-Island monopoly and poor management will continue to increase prices.
Travelers to and from Dominica will continue to be charged on a sector basis which will keep the cost of access to the country high and even prohibitive.
I happened to have had a long conversation with the last consultants and the essence of the discussion was that we should not expect any serious commercial carrier with equipment as Eagle’s ATR to take up this night landing at Melville Hall any time too soon if ever. And the reasons are obvious, just ask PM Skerrit to tell the truth for once in his life and tell us exactly why after his big announcement that he would be on the first official night landing flight he was not on it, and chose instead to take a car ride from Roseau
Grenadines Getting New Airport; Night Flights to Dominica
You know Louis, whereas I appreciate the effort, and the notion, that night landing will help boost the Tourist Industry, in Dominica, that is left to be seen.
One thing we need to understand is that the tourrist favors direct flight, Whereas it would take about 6.5 hours plus or minus from Los Angeles to Dominica, connecting to Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, or Puerto Rico, which I have done before, simply add hours in getting to Dominica.
I am not prepared to shoot the efforts of night landing in Dominica, down, however, I do believe that the introduction of night landing in to the International tourrist, is of very little significant’s.
The bottom line is that we in Dominica should not allow ourselves to be contained, by being content with something that suite the 1930’s and 1950’s.
We are in the twenty-first century, therefore we must endeavor to live, and operate as the rest of the world, in the twenty-first century.
We do need to play politics with the development of our infrastructure, costly as it may seem, that is the nature of the beast, we can procrastinate for as long as we like, it will soon dawn on us that night landing will not help, or make the situation much better than it is at the moment.
St. Vincent, could be used as an example, if the benefits from Night Landing made any significant difference in the economy of St. Vincent, obviously, they would not have built, or is in the building phase of their International Airport.
Partisan political rhetoric will lead some to say, ” we can’t afford it.” I say we can, this is the sort of investment, where our nation should borrow, and beg to get such a project going in the country, it is more than an essential project, it is necessary, and indeed a necessity which we should not procrastinate, or hold back, nor cast aside.
Viva Dominica!
Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque