TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums Southern Caribbean Flight from Barbados to St. Vincent w/o Liat?

Hi,
Can anyone recommend a private flight charter company? We are 7 members trying to find a way to St. Vincent to start a bareboat vacation. Liat options for our summer time frame are quite limited and expensive. A small plane for hire may be a better option.
Thanks,
Dan

You could try SVG Air. They operate a scheduled service from Barbados/St. Vincent as well as charters. We have used their scheduled service in the past and it was convenient and on time.

We returned from St. Vincent via Barbados on Liat earlier this week. Our scheduled non-stop turned into a Caribbean tour with stops in Martinique, St. Lucia, and finally Barbados (with no luggage when we got there). We barely made our flight from Barbados that initially had a 6 hour layover.

That particular nightmare is one I would gladly pay more to avoid. Sorry about your ordeal. I've heard similar and even worse stories. Thanks for recommending SVG Air. They seem a bit more expensive but given Liat's record, perhaps worth it.

As a scheduled service, SVG is more than Liat which is why I used Liat on the last trip. As we were running for the plane in Barbados, I was wishing I had spent the extra money.

Also, note that the SVG scheduled service does include some stops. The time we went from Barbados, we stopped at Union and Canouan on the way to St. Vincent. On the return, there was a stop in Bequia. There are basically "touch and go" with about 10 minutes of ground time. We enjoyed it as it was a cool way to see the Grenadines.

I used to fly charters about 40 years ago - I moved up the ladder and I'm retired now. Back then it was about the same price - per person - for 8 or 9 people to take a charter between the islands than go sched. I suggest you write to SVG Air and ask for a charter rate (and double it for the return flight), then compare it to the scheduled fare for your whole party.

The big advantage of a charter is that you tell them when you want to fly.

LIAT is supposedly running three hours or more late these days - none of my contacts know why - and part of the problem may be industrial action at the Barbados Airport. Those actions do not affect the charter companies, so you need to balance your costs against missing your flight back home while LIAT screws around.

SVG Air also offers sched flights, but those may be affected by the industrial action where the charters may not.

Here is a site you can monitor for up-to-date news about what is going on in aviation in the Caribbean... by airline and by location.
Caribbean Regional Aviation Network
http://www.craneforum.org/index.php

Good luck, and I hope you have a good trip!

I have used SVG Air and I enjoyed it. We did stop in Union and Bequia on the way from Barbados to St. Vincent.

http://mustique.com/private-charters/

Used Air Mustique in the past. Great service.
cheers
irina