The newly opened East Terminal of the ANR Robinson International Airport in Tobago welcomed passengers arriving on Caribbean Airlines’ inaugural non-stop flight from Toronto, Canada, on Sunday night.
The service, which arrived in time for Tobago Carnival, is expected to help expand the island’s tourism market in Canada.
Bele dancers and the sweet sounds of steelpan gave passengers their first taste of Tobago as they disembarked.
Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Eli Zakour, Chief Secretary Farley Augustine and Secretary of Tourism, Antiquities and Creative Industries Zorisha Hackett were on hand to welcome the visitors.
Minister Zakour expressed his elation that the flight is now a reality.
“Well, it’s very exciting; we have been working on this for some time. It’s very special for me because the last three inaugural flights we welcomed internationally was other airlines, but tonight it is our own airline, Caribbean Airlines. So it is very, very exciting and special for us.”
Flight BW 615 touched down in Tobago at 9:28 PM, 27 minutes ahead of schedule.
Captain Faraz Hosein said landing at the newly opened East Terminal was a welcome change.
“It was a great experience; you could tell we had the water salute, so that was fantastic, and it’s a very short taxi for us as pilots. The runway and the terminal is at the end of the runway, so it was great.”
The once-weekly direct service from Toronto, Canada, will provide travellers with easier access to Tobago, a convenience welcomed by arriving passengers.
Passenger Nicolas Paul said, “It is very efficient; it is fun to know that we could just come straight here. It is a little bit of a hassle to go Trinidad and then come here.”
Another passenger, Marva Hector, agreed. “It was nice not having to stop in Trinidad and then wait two hours to get a first, second flight whatever so it was really nice. Saved us a lot of time.”
Passenger Cecile Ablack was excited about landing at the new terminal building.
“I remember when it was a hut. I’m dating myself, but I remember when it was a hut, and a hut was very charming, but this is fantastic.”
Meanwhile, Tourism Secretary Zorisha Hackett expressed relief at the successful landing of the flight and thanked former Tourism Secretary Tashia Burris for beginning the negotiations several years ago.
“I told the Chief Secretary, ‘Let’s not give up until we got it done.’ You know we had to find the money to get it done in terms of the marketing, and you know, to deal with the MRG for this particular flight, and we knew we would have had some trial runs to see how successful the flight is.”
The inaugural flight saw 61 passengers disembark, most of them from the Tobagonian diaspora in Canada.
TT$1.5 million was budgeted for the marketing of the flight from Toronto, and Secretary Hackett said more aggressive marketing is needed to attract leisure tourists.
“The plan is to go more in the leisure market end because you know it is diaspora-based right now. What we are seeing is people who have roots in Tobago coming back, but what we ultimately want is leisure markets. Canadians who have never visited, they hearing about Tobago, and they want to come here.”
Secretary Hackett added that as marketing to attract visitors increases, Tobago must work on boosting accommodation options and local experiences.