Back in 2001, Minister Lynch made the following statement at a Caribbean and Hotel and Tourism Conference:
Noel Lynch, the tourism minister for Barbados, told the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference in Curacao last month, that the island governments ”have got to step back and look at the airline issue more seriously.” He questioned whether privately owned airlines could fill that role as well as those that Caribbean governments might own or subsidize.
Source: The New York Times
In today’s Nation newspaper at the “welcome ceremony for the inaugural American Eagle flight that touched down at the Grantley Adams International Airport yesterday” this is what Minister Lynch had to say.
Government is not opposed to an American Eagle flight on the lucrative Barbados-St Lucia route. In fact, said Minister of Tourism Noel Lynch, the additional airlift is welcomed, as it would not only provide additional seats but also take some of the pressure off LIAT. Speaking during a brief welcome ceremony for the inaugural American Eagle flight that touched down at the Grantley Adams International Airport yesterday evening, Lynch said it appeared that the service had been contentious.
Source: Nation
Here is what his counterpart and businessman Allen Chastenet from St. Lucia had to say:
St Lucia’s Minister of Tourism, Allen Chastanet, who along with other officials and media representatives came in on the flight, said the country turned to America Eagle to fill the void left by the reduced LIAT service. “Since the amalgamation of LIAT and Caribbean Star, capacity has been cut by 50 per cent and the overall drop in business has been 45 per cent and that is business that has not gone away.
Source: Nation
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