TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Direct flight from Miami to Tortola??

Browsing the Oil Nut Bay website I notice in the "getting here" section information about direct flights from Miami to Beef...

"Coming this fall, fly direct from Miami to Tortola’s Terrence B. Lettsome International Airport - just a short two and a half hour flight for US travelers, bypassing the usual need for stopovers in Puerto Rico or St. Thomas."

Anyone know anything about this??

Maybe. The BVI government is subsidizing BVI Airline $7 million to attempt three flights a week service out of Miami with eventual daily flights. They have leased a couple of used Avro RJ85 commuter jets. The RJ85 is an 85 passenger jet designed for urban European airports with short runways and noise restrictions. I do not believe they have the flight crews yet.

Unless a flight fits seamlessly into your schedule it will probably not save any travel time.

They have a couple of old beat up airframes leased and our advertising for pilots. They are asking for minimal qualifications. As far as I can tell they do not have a FAA operating certificate for the AVRO. It's also highly questionable that the aircraft can fly nonstop from Beef Island to Miami consistently. I will be surprised if they start flying in the fall.
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Oh boy...that sounds promising....I can hear it now..."Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking...can someone please point out Tortola when we get close?"<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" />

Even if they somehow get all the finance, paperwork, and airline partnerships in order? That is a big If. The plane they have chosen is a four(4) engine non competitive high maintenance hurdle with a RJ85 hull that will consume 660 U.S. gallons per hour. The planes are available to BVI Airways because the competitive market based airlines that know what they are doing do not want to fly these higher cost per passenger mile aircraft.

They are still operated quite a bit in Europe. 4400 lbs per hour is not a terrible burn rate. A 737 is over 6000 however carries more people. I don't think however the maintenance is going to be available to keep the aircraft reliable.

And if you miss your flight, who knows when the next one will be. There are enough good connections into Beef Island on United, American, Delta and Jet Blue that there is no compelling reason to experiment with Air BVI.

Even St. Thomas is probably a more reliable option. That $7 million could have gone a long way to improving ferry service.

Thanks all for the information! I thought maybe it was too good to be true. I miss the American Eagle service into Beef

I second RatmansWife's thought about improving ferry service. The loooooooong wait to get through Roadtown's ferry custom and immigration makes me hate my arrival to Tortola. If only there was a petite pump room annex on the dock at roadtown it wouldn't be such a cruel wait.

Here is the article from this past January.

Caribbean Journal

Next thing you know, the BVI Gov't will be touting the close to 100% room occupancy of hotels on Tortola.....of course they won't mention it is due to delayed and canceled flights. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

I am sure you mean flying into SJU or STT, only a few commuters fly to EIS

Delta, American, United and Jet Blue all have connecting flights into Beef Island on one of their codeshare/partner airlines, i.e., Seaborne or Cape Air. You can buy your flights to the BVI on one ticket, and they will be responsible for getting you there, even if a previous flight is cancelled or delayed.

Southwest can get you to SJU, but you're on your own after that. BVI Airways, well who knows.

If I can leave Boston and get to SJU in 4 hours, have 1 hour 20 minutes between a connecting flight to EIS, and get to EIS 30 minutes later, WHY ON EARTH would I want to fly to Miami to connect with a non-codeshare airline that runs 3 flights a week ?

Not that I love SJU, especially returning, but please don't try to convince me that Miami, on return, is a better alternative to SJU, when my destination is Boston, AND BVI Airways doesn't code share to get me where I need to go ?

It might work for someone, but it sure as heck is not in my vocabulary as working for me.

The Miami subsidized flight is just an attempt to make good on the long overdue promises to the business community. The Miami based independent lawyers, CPA's and other professionals that oversee the finance side of the BVI do need a reliable way to get businesses services professionals back and forth to/from Miami. If they can get agreements with other airlines maybe some tourist will ride it. This is nothing more than a short term patch until the airport gets fixed. The BVI Government is covering all the start up costs, any losses, and guaranteeing a 20 percent return on any actual investment BVI Airways makes. FYI, the guy running BVI Airways lives on the West Coast. The key to visitor success is services from Boston, New York, and DC; that is where the bulk of the BVI market comes from.

Please note that "Direct Flight" does not always mean "Non Stop Flight". On "Direct Flights, you might land one or more airports before your final destination.

Just who do you think is in Miami? The Van Andels are in Michigan as is Victor International. Rosewood is in Dallas. The only owner close to Miami is Mainsail and they are in Tampa and I can guarantee none of them hire Miami lawyers. Also, just how often do you expect corporate offices, which can instantly see every detail of their operations on their computer screens, send high value personel down? It is also delusional to think many of the parties with corprate registration in the BVI are coming down to check on their paper work. I doubt 1 in 100 even know where the BVI is.

This is purely an attempt to placate David Johnson so he can claim direct service in his marketing spiel for Oil Nut Bay PERIOD.

The CALA regional offices for all the auditing firms are in Miami/Coral Gables and the lawyers the banks and those that finance the sales, financing, and refinancing are all in Miami/Coral Gables. Any meaningful multinational with a CALA focus operates out of Miami/Coral Gables. The only way to serve the West Coast to BVI is a flight service from Miami. The primary visitor market needs flights from Boston, New York, and DC. Toronto would be a boost to the BVI business.

That is half of the driving force. The other half is the Aga Khan, owner of YCCS.

Well, let them pay for the airport expansion. The two of them together could probably come up with the money by shaking out their sofas. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

That is exactly what should happen, as the airport expansion will really only benefit those two bastages.

I'm pretty sure that Johnson is involved. He's a renowned bully.
The Aga Khan, not so much. In fact, they very much despise one another.
And there's some truth to what Ron is saying...although not quite literally accountants and lawyers. Much darker than that.

Aren't the vast majority of the off-shore banking workers and lawyers from the UK? That's my impression (anecdotally, never did a survey) from living there for many years.

The largest public accounting and legal firms serving the Carribean and Latin America are Miami or Coral Gables based. When the time comes to sell, buy, refinance, insure, reinsure, rebuilt, or professionally inspect for a long list of reasons a high end commercial or residential property. Much of the working professional talent will need to come from the greater Miami area. Others that needs to get in an out to serve the ideal "BVI discerning clients".... would include decorators, designers of all types, grandchildren, and assorted girlfriends and other hanger oners who do not get jet privileges with the primary.

There are a long list of reasons, detailed my some of the best consultants on the planet, listing why the BVI needs consistent and predictable direct jet access from the US mainland.

The whole section of this thread which had to do with the crash of the soccer team has been moved to BVI People Talk

For those that like to try and do some of their own math? Here are just some of the variables for an RJ85. This chart would not take into account many variables including temperature and altitude. There are many others that go into flight planning. Each colored line reflects variations in fuel capacity. My point we have no way to do this math ourselves. We do not know the plane and we do not have the payload weights.

Here's the bottom line..the pilot radioed that he had a FUEL problem. Enough conjecture from all of we experts.

Air BVI completed their proving flights several weeks ago. If the FAA was satisfied service should start anytime.