00:00The first flight of U.S.-based Frontier Airlines to Piacco International
00:04Airport in Trinidad was greeted with a water cannon salute provided by the
00:09airport fire tenders of the Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service. That customary
00:15greeting for a first-time flight to any airport by an airline was followed by
00:19the customary speeches. Frontier Airlines, which is headquartered in Denver,
00:23Colorado, was represented by the carrier's Senior Director of Network
00:28Planning, Jonathan Coffman. I came down here in February and we knew this was an
00:33aggressive timeline but we wanted the service to start in time for the summer
00:36peak. While folks aren't in school, people can take time off of work and can
00:40travel and experience everything that we want to bring to this beautiful Twin
00:44Island nation of Trinidad and Tobago with our ultra low fares, which we do by
00:49having, being America's greenest airline, keeping the lowest fuel burn per seat of
00:54all the carriers in the U.S. and we're excited and want to invest long-term in
00:59this partnership. The arrival of the first Frontier Airlines flight to
01:03Trinidad and Tobago certainly marks a new chapter, not just for the aviation
01:08sector, but potentially also for the economies of Trinidad and Tobago and
01:13Puerto Rico. Of course today we're starting with non-stop service to San
01:18Juan, Puerto Rico. Very excited for the people of Trinidad and Tobago to
01:23experience what we call the island of enchantment with great, with its shopping,
01:27its beaches, the ability to experience an old Spanish colonial city, to take
01:33cruises, in my opinion a better destination than Miami, but also to be
01:39able to use San Juan as a gateway to a wealth of destinations that we serve
01:43along the eastern seaboard of the U.S. with seamless connections in both
01:47directions. New York, JFK, Newark, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Philadelphia, the list
01:51continues. The proceedings were interrupted as there was a call for
01:55passengers at the Piacco Airport to board the first Frontier flight out of
02:01Trinidad and Tobago. Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan spoke with the
02:05media after the inaugural flight ceremony for Frontier and said such
02:09developments begin with the signing of air services agreements after which
02:13airlines do their homework. I can tell you that Trinidad is a very
02:18attractive destination. That is why Frontier would have, if you look at the
02:22flights that came in, the flight came in full, just like KLM who started
02:29with, I think it would have been one flight per week and now they're up to
02:32five or six flights per week. So Trinidad is a very attractive destination. Air
02:38services agreements take a long time to sign. The fact that everybody is
02:43interested now in signing with Trinidad tells you that there is an interest in
02:48Trinidad. Other speakers at the event included Tourism Minister Randall
02:52Mitchell. TV6 News spoke with him about the arrival of Frontier Airlines in the
02:57context of a recent travel advisory issued by the US for Trinidad and
03:02Tobago. So I think the decision is really driven not by those travel
03:06advisories, not by the media reports of crime and criminality and so on that we
03:12have a challenge with that many countries in the Caribbean, many
03:15countries across the world, they do have challenges with that. I think it's really
03:18driven by solid market research, looking at the data and identifying Trinidad,
03:26Port of Spain, as a lucrative route, as one that is sustainable. The tourism
03:31minister said many other tourism destinations have what he called high
03:35and low seasons and Trinidad is quote always in season unquote. The Christmas
03:42season is always a high one. The carnival season, well Frontier has
03:46indicated that they may wish to put on some more flights and even add another
03:50flight from Miami direct to Port of Spain for that carnival period
03:55and of course August, the August vacation period is also a high one. So I think
04:00it's really driven by market research. The Works and Transport Minister gave
04:03credit to the Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago for its role in the
04:07new flight service being provided by Frontier out of Piacco Airport.
04:12Jule Brown, TV6 News.
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