CASTRIES, St Lucia, CMC – Tourism Minister Allen Chastanet has denied a statement by St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves that the recently launched CARICOM Airways is operating illegally.
He said that the airline was operating under the Airline Operation Convention (AOC) from Suriname which under the CARICOM Convention allows member countries to accept each other’s AOC.
Chastanet said that CARICOM Airways is a St. Lucia registered company which has been given permission to fly to Castries and Dominica and had applied to the authorities in St. Vincent and the Grenadines since April.
But Gonsalves has said that the airline has not been granted permission to land in St. Vincent and the Grenadines because it is “in breach of the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority operating procedure” and as such “the airline is operating illegally”.
Gonsalves said there were still many concerns his administration had about the new airline including “the inadequacy of the insurance coverage, that is to say, the passenger liability and the single pilot operator for the islander aircraft, which requires a double crew.
“This is the requirement as practised by SVG AIR with a similar operation. These issues are still to be addressed,” Gonsalves said, adding “failing to address these outstanding issues means that CARICOM Airways is in breach of the Eastern Caribbean Civil Authority operating procedure, hence the airline is operating illegally.
“Once CARICOM Airways is in compliance with the law governing the operations of airlines in the OECS (Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States) region, of which St. Lucia is a member, then the reciprocal arrangements will be considered by the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Air Transport and Licensing Board,” Gonsalves said, noting that Chastanet could have used other channels to make known his position on the matter.
Chastanet said at a meeting called in September to determine the status of the airline’s start up operations, his Permanent Secretary called his counterpart in St. Vincent and discovered that nothing was done and the conversation was followed up by a letter from the St. Lucia Ministry of Civil Aviation to that department in St. Vincent.
“The letter indicated that they are in possession of an AOC from Suriname issued by an established St. Lucia company and we would like a response to the application, reminding them that the agreement between St. Vincent and St .Lucia was based on reciprocity, and there were already two airlines from SVG flying the route, and we would like to hear something from the authorities.
“Unfortunately up to now we have not received any word, and the Ministry of Aviation through the Air Licensing Committee has again written to the Civil Aviation Authority in St. Vincent and the Grenadines reminding them once more of the spirit of the agreement and asking then once again by Friday of next week to please submit whatever questions they have or a response to the application,” Chastanet said Friday.
He said if this too failed then the committee would have to meet again and make the determination in terms of what their reaction should be, brushing aside remarks that his call for a withdrawal of the service by the St. Vincent-based airlines were undiplomatic.
“So this is a not a case where we are giving St. Vincent and the Grenadines any ultimatums. All we are doing is to remind the government again because we had that communication back in September that both St Vincent and the Grenadines carriers are flying on the basis of reciprocity, we are not threatening anyone but simply asking for a response,” he said.
He said that the matter had been discussed at the Cabinet level and that he had been asked to write a letter to which there has been no response.
“CARICOM Airways has two planes sitting on the ground and were very helpful during the (passage of Hurricane) Tomas situation but they want to get into the work which they came here for, which is to ply the Dominica, Grenada, Martinique and St. Vincent route and in the case of the latter they are not being allowed to do so,” he said.
“It’s a St. Lucian company and as the government of St. Lucia we have the right to be able to ask for reciprocity, we are not asking for anything else, I am not even saying to them that they have to give permission but they ought to able to give a response.
“What we are seeking to do is to put in an operation to facilitate a cheaper form of travel, in addition St. Lucians and other regional travellers want to be able to fly directly to Dominica, St. Vincent and Martinique, these are three very important routes,” he added.
Reacting to statements by Gonzalves that no one should dictate to a sovereign what it should do, Chastanet said that no one had addressed the Prime Minister on the issue noting that all the correspondents had been addressed to the Civil Aviation Authority.
“What we have asked is for the authorities to furnish the government by next week Friday with whatever decision they have made or a whatever request they have for information, failing which the matter with be send to the Air Licensing Board, whose recommendation will be taken to Cabinet for a final decision,” the Minister added.
“This is a very simple matter to have resolved as all we are asking for is a response to the application. If the authorities in St. Vincent and the Grenadines are privy to information that we do not have then we will love to have it.
“If they are under the assumption that certain things are not in place and we are able to furnish them with that information in order to facilitate the decision I would be happy to do so,” Chastanet said. (CMC)
