TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Air BVI service non-stop from Miami to EIS

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"gourmet meals"??????????? How much do they expect these flights to cost???

It would have to be under $380 round trip to compete with Spirit and Jet Blue to STT.

There is no sanity in airfares however. Just checked ITA for fares MIA/STT and found Delta offering MIA/STT connecting through Atlanta on DL571 for $371. That same DL571 flight Atlanta/STT is $656! I could fly ATL to FLL on Spirit, cab to MIA fly back to Atlanta and then to STT cheaper than ATL/STT direct! Figure that one out! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />

So..when do you get here Glenn???

That's crazy !!!!!!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />

It's always the case. I can ALWAYS book an AA flight from Tampa to Miami to St. Maarten, CHEAPER than an AA flight (the exact SAME flight) from Miami to St. Maarten.

I don't think it needs to compete with St. Thomas flights dollar for dollar - It could be a little more expensive. It could then still be an attractive choice to the potential St. Thomas visitor and a cheaper alternative to those going to BVI via St. Thomas and ferry.

I think it really will be a limited market though. For many, existing options are better. For us, going non-stop to PR and then a commuter plane to BVI would still take less time, likely get us in sooner and probably be similar in cost.

A 4 engine jet direct to EIS? cool!

Particularly from Miami there is a growing collection of business travelers. Many of those flights and other costs are paid by employers or third party clients. In many cases the absolute lowest cost of air, ferry/bus travel will not be the first priority. While many who type here find the ferry great sport and part of the adventure. There are far more travelers who will never consider the air, taxi, ferry, air combo. There is also the growing list of BVI regulars who will never risk the ferry dance again. When you consider many are spending $1,000 dollars or much more a day for their BVI time the cost of the flight is an ever shrinking percentage of the BVI holiday or business trip. If you sail with us and insist on the ferry we expect you to ferry in the day before and ferry out the day after you are scheduled to be off the boat. We are finished with the hassle of waiting for someone to get to the boat from STT and the stress of trying to help a guest make a doubtful and less than reliable ferry connection at the end of a great visit.

5-6 million into the ferry service to make it competitive, or $500 million into the airport....you decide.

I assume you are doing crewed charters. I believe most people planning on going on a charter are flying to their destination be it EIS or STT at least the day before and plan to be at a base that night or the following am.

Coming via SJU is no guarantee especially in summer with a connection out of Miami that you will be on tortola that day. 3 times we had an unplanned overnight in SJU. Alas if you read this forum you will hear problems of missed flights or cancelled flights from Cape Ait, Air Sunshine and Seaborne.
As far as a shrinking portion of the trip, that may be true for some. At Marina Cay I watched 3 private jets take off in the space of our lunch. So you are right for many visitors perhaps air fare is not a big consideration. However I think it is probably the single largest deterrent. Assume a family of 5 is traveling and you are making and paying the freight. Much of last year from our home airport, fares to EIS or VIJ were in the 1100-1200 range leaving early in am and getting to EIS 830 or VG the next day with an overnight in SJU. Or you could take Delta thru Atlanta to STT leaving at 6 am and be in STT at 130..,catch 230 ferry to Roadtown..be at our place in VG before 5 pm..for 580pp plus ferry punching the buttons..a litte less than 3 grand difference and shorter travel time.
So if you were the person (hypothetical as it is just the two of us)

Minor factoid: This IS NOT THE FIRST scheduled jet service from MIA to EIS. In 1986 British Caribbean Airlines, which had sucessfully operated for several years as a cargo service to Tortola with old DC3s, started daily passenger service to Miami with a stop in the Turks & Caicos using a single BAE146-100, the larger version of the RJ85 proposed for this attempt. The company was liquidated in about 11 months.

Bowl of Goat Water,some Salt Fish and a Johnnycake. Gourmet eatin' BVI style <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

The flights are aimed at business travel, not tourists, really. They are being touted here as a boost to Financial Services. I expect they will be considerably more expensive than the regular (but pretty inconvenient) STT or SJU flights.

As usual, those of us that come to the island and stay are swept under the rug for the financial business and cruise crowd.

All government needs to do before pumping money into an airline is to take a LIAT flyers' poll.

That may be true but remember a lot of those business travellers will actually live in the BVI so pandering to the residents rather than the tourists! It will be a big time saving for those travelling from the BVI to Europe or the Far East. The additional cost will be saved in billable hours.

I am still hoping there is a place for the vacation traveller, both coming to and exiting the BVI on their travels.