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Caribbean airlines should be flying to the Continent

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by David Hinkson

While Barbados and at least two countries on the African continent, namely Kenya and Ghana, have been forging greater ties and establishing trading and diplomatic relationships, the area of economically viable transportation links remains outstanding.

And there is now a suggestion that Barbados and its Caribbean neighbours should approach the matter differently, especially as it relates to air travel.

Speaking during a recent virtual discussion put on by the Culture division of the Prime Minister’s Office entitled, “Africans at home and abroad: Their experiences and problems faced”, Barbados’ Ambassador to the Organisation of American States (OAS), Noel Lynch, said a regionally based airline should be leading the way.

“Right now, Barbados and many of its counterparts in the region do not own a single boat or aircraft and we have to rely on our former slave masters to carry out these flights between Barbados and Africa. To my mind, rather than signing Memoranda of Understanding between air carriers, I think the best idea would be for us in the Caribbean to actually invest in the flight; we need to fly our own planes with our own pilots.

Right now, Trinidad and Tobago has the only airline operating in the region, and I think if you want that direct airlink, rather than having to go through London or some other city in Europe, we should talk to the people in the Caribbean who have planes and who can fly them.”

Barbados’ Ambassador to Ghana, Phil Phillips, noted that the Barbados Government has already begun negotiating with at least three Africa-based airlines, but added that “We have to put matters into context, because at this time we are coming out of the pandemic, are presently experiencing high fuel prices and many of the world’s economies are not growing at high rates.” Regarding Lynch’s point, Philips said that prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Keith Rowley had talked about establishing a Caribbean Airlines flight from Trinidad to Ghana.

Phillips also noted that ocean freight was another area being considered, but he believed that for this to be viable, “We need to achieve scale, so it would be best if a ship left Ghana and travelled not just to Barbados, but across the rest of the Caribbean and into South America to make it worthwhile.”

One of the other participants in the discussion, Paulette Elliott, who is based in the United Kingdom, suggested a trial run before signing any agreements with airlines. “There are a number of airlines based in Africa that fly directly to destinations in the Americas; why not let them use Barbados as a hub to connect to the other Caribbean countries? Beyond that, we should consider having some direct flights as a ‘trial run’ and then do a feasibility study to determine if it is practical.”

On another matter, Senior Business Development Officer with the Africa Desk at Export Barbados, Madou Diagne, called for greater diplomatic ties between Africa and Barbados, given the fact that more Africans were coming to work and study on the island. “While we have been developing trade relationships, we have not really done much in the area of diplomatic relations.

We have a number of Africans studying at Ross University and the other offshore medical schools in Barbados, as well as the Ghanaian nurses who have been here for over a year, but when they encounter certain challenges there is no one on the ground representing them. Having a diplomatic presence here would help them tremendously, and would also assist them in sending funds and other items to their families back home.”

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