British Airways Arrives in St. Kitts

Preparations are being finalised today for Saturday’s arrival of British Airways’ inaugural flight from London-Gatwick into St Kitts’ Robert L Bradshaw International Airport.

When the 280-seat Boeing 777 aircraft touches down at 4:45 pm, Minister of State for Tourism, Sports and Culture, Senator Richard Skerritt; Minister of Housing, Agriculture and Fisheries, Cedric Liburd; Nevis’ Minister for Communications, Works, Public Utilities, Carlisle Powell; and Chairman of the St Kitts Tourism Authority, Alphonso O’Garro, will be among the passengers, along with top British Airways officials.

“The new weekly flight by BA will not only increase capacity to the destination, but the inclusion of the Club World seats also means that it will be easier for upmarket UK tour operators to sell both islands of the Federation,” a government release said.

The London Gatwick service will also connect a wide array of UK and European cities served by BA.

“Indeed we now look forward to the commencement of (the) direct flight from Gatwick-London,” Prime Minister Denzil Douglas said earlier this week, as he said his ruling Labour Party would continue to push the twin-island federation as a high-end luxury destination which will provide higher wages for its local population.

Ahead of the inaugural flight, British Airways said that countries such as St Kitts and St Lucia continue to experience growth and investment and it is anticipated that larger numbers of travelers will want to visit those destinations.

“These two Caribbean islands are seventh and eighth respectively, on British Airways’ predicted top 10 long haul destinations for 2009,” it said.