Caribbean Net News

Reprinted from Caribbean Net News
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Delta’s inaugural flight to Antigua scheduled for December 2005

Friday, August 19, 2005

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua: It is now official that Delta Airlines will make its inaugural flight to Antigua later this year.

The December 18 inaugural event will cement a six-month negotiating process with the team headed by Tourism Minister Harold Lovell.

Delta is the second largest operating carrier within the United States, and the airline will be making 2 scheduled flights per week on Wednesdays and Saturdays non-stop to Antigua from Atlanta, with its 737 aircraft that has a seating capacity of 148 passengers.

Currently the airline operates into the eastern Caribbean islands of Barbados and St. Lucia.

Tourism Minister Lovell said that this new airlift opportunity will offer connection reach to Antigua out of approximately 20 significant US gateways, with major ones being Miami, Orlando, New York and New Jersey.

Marketing and Promotions Manager Joyce Henry says that, “already our official US PR firm Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown and Russell (YPB&R) and Tour Operators are excited about the prospects of additional airlift into Antigua.

Earlier this week, a team of Delta Airlines representatives headed by Senior Vice President of Operations in the Caribbean, Mr. Terry Strand, and inclusive of Sales and Marketing, Finance, Ground Handling Services and IT personnel, visited Antigua.

They held numerous consultations with several ground handling agents, Special Security Services and the management team of the V.C. Bird International Airport.

Form all reports the team went back very excited about the new route as all meetings proved productive and they are looking towards a future of working closely with the Ministry and its various stakeholders.

An elated Tourism Minister remarks that, “The advent of Delta scheduled service of two weekly non-stop flights into Antigua from Atlanta, will indeed strengthen and support our efforts to increase visitor arrivals from within the US market, and already we are looking forward to following up with negotiations to have Delta increase this schedule to a daily service.”

Delta’s arrival will usher the start of the 2006 Winter Tourist Season.

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