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  • 2 years ago
U.S. based Frontier Airlines arrived in Trinidad and Tobago with passengers for the first time today at Piarco International Airport.

And during the ceremony for its inaugural flight to this country, the Frontier flight left with passengers who were waiting for their first flight of out the Piarco airport with that airline.

And while there was a recent travel advisory from the U.S. for this country, Government Ministers say that airlines like Frontier are doing their research and see this country as a viable and lucrative destination.

Juhel Browne reports.
Transcript
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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