St. Kitts 7 January 2009: This Saturday marks an historic occasion for the island of St. Kitts as Prime Minister Denzil Douglas welcomes in the inaugural British Airways service from the UK’s London (Gatwick) airport as it touches down at St. Kitts RLB International Airport at 16.45.

With the inaugural flight, British Airways becomes the only carrier to offer a weekly scheduled service from the UK to St. Kitts.

Minister of State for Tourism, Sports and Culture, Richard Skerritt, who will be on the inaugural flight, said, ““This is an exciting time for St. Kitts and a fantastic opportunity for the island, with a tourism product that is already expanding in terms of new development, attractions and facilities. As the world enters a very tough year economically, we have every confidence that this new service will put St.Kitts firmly on the map.”

In addition to Minister Skerritt, this special flight will be carrying Minister of Agriculture, Cooperatives, Fisheries, Lands, Housing and Consumer Affairs, Cedric Liburd and Chairman of the Board for the Tourism Authority, Alfonso O’Garro.

Also present on the flight will be top British Airways officials including Richard Tams, General Manager of UK & Ireland Sales; Alison Nichols, Business Development Manager, Karen Gordon, Marketing and Amanda Allan, PR Manager. They will be accompanied by key travel trade media including Alan Orbell from Selling Long Haul, Martin Ferguson from Travel Trade Gazette and Jo Gardner from ABTA Magazine.

Chief Executive Officer of the Tourism Authority, Rosecita Jeffers, said, “the new service will offer considerable benefits to the tourism industry on the ground, especially tour companies, operators and other services involved in the tourism product and in employing islanders; we look forward to welcoming new visitors, visiting friends and relatives and businesses in the coming months.”.

In true Caribbean tradition, the arrival of the BA flight will be marked with a spectacular opening ceremony on the tarmac at which Prime Minister Denzil Douglas will address all passengers as well as specially invited guests. Invited guests will then be taken to the VIP lounge of the airport, for a brief press conference and cocktail reception.

About the BA Flight

The new BA service will depart London Gatwick’s airport at 10.30 a.m., arriving at RLB International at 16.45. The return flight will leave St. Kitts at 18.45, arriving at London (Gatwick) at 07.50 the next day. BA will use a three class, 280 seat Boeing 777 aircraft with 40 Club World seats, 24 World Traveller Plus and 216 World Traveller seats.

This 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 St. Kitts & Nevis. The London Gatwick service will also connect a wide array of UK and European cities served by BA.

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