Barbados is hoping for increased airlift from the United States with American Airlines indicating that it will be providing a daily service to the island from Charlotte, North Carolina and twice daily from Miami.
Tourism and International Transport Minister, Kerrie Symmonds, speaking at the 2018 Annual Convention for the Society of American Travel Writers on Monday, said that the new flights should allow Barbados to capture “the tremendous power” of those gateways.
He said that the aim is to increase capacity year round.
“The process again is one of development. We are looking at maintaining those flights that we now have… I am confident that if we do the right things, we can maintain the level of interest in Barbados year round and keep those extended flights that we now have in winter on the table as we go into the future,” Symmonds said, adding that it was critical that airlines do not see Barbados as a risk because of down or slow periods.
Caribbean leaders to address UN General Assembly
Several Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders will address the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) later this week as UN Secretary General António Guterres called for a “renewed commitment to a rules-based global order”.
Guterres spoke of key themes for discussion during the 73rd session of the UNGA that started in New York on Monday.
He said that with 84 Heads of State and 44 government leaders taking part in the debate this week, it showed that the UN was still “the world’s indispensable forum for international cooperation”.
According to the UN’s provisional list of speakers, the prime ministers of Haiti, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Barbados are expected to participate in the General Assembly Debate this week.
The vice president of Guyana and foreign ministers from Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Dominica and Grenada will do so in the absence of the president, as in the case of Guyana, and the prime ministers for the others.
Most CARICOM countries will take part in the debate on Friday with Guyana, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Barbados expected to address the forum.
Haiti and Jamaica will address the General Assembly on Thursday; and Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Dominica and Grenada will do so on Saturday.
The prime ministers of St. Kitts and Nevis, Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Barbados will also address, on Thursday, the General Assembly’s Third High-Level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).
Grenada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Peter David will also address that High-Level Meeting.
