Winward Islands Airways (Winair) has launched its six-week service to Montserrat with the first scheduled flight of the season.
The flight took off from VC Bird International Airport in Antigua and landed at the John A Osborne Airport in Montserrat on the morning of Tuesday, 11 February.
The regional airline is flying the route, which includes a connection between St Maarten and Antigua, until 26 March thanks to an agreement with Montserrat’s government.
Beginning on Friday, 14 February, it is also operating a route flying directly between St Maarten and Montserrat.
The cost per one-way ticket between Montserrat and Antigua is US$110 (plus taxes). The cost per one way ticket between Montserrat and St Maarten is $135 (plus taxes).
The return route between St Maarten, Antigua and Montserrat will operate on 11, 18 and 25 February while the St Maarten to Montserrat route will operate on 14, 21 and 28 February.
From 4 to 26 March the flights will operate three times daily.
The government announced on 13 January that it had signed a contract with Winair to provide additional airlift in and out of Montserrat,.
The agreement will help to improve access for the peak travel period which occurs around the St Patrick’s Festival, taking place from 8 to 17 March this year.
Premier Reuben Meade said: “We have provided this as an interim service, while we continue to explore medium- and long-term enhancements to air and sea access to support sustainable growth of our economy.”
The company is using nine-seater Twin Otter aircraft for the routes, which a recent independent report said lacked the payload capacity required for cost-effective operations in Montserrat.
However, the government is in talks with aviation safety experts about the potential for Twin Otter aircraft to use the full length of the island’s runway for takeoff, improving efficiency.
