Maya’s newest service takes flight
Maya Island Air launched its regional services today and the occasion was marked with plenty flourish and personalities of the past and present administration, including at least three ministers, the current Prime Minister and his predecessor. The airline, which has been in operation for almost half a century, has bought and outfitted three ATR 72’s that seat sixty eight passengers. The planes touched down at the Philip Goldson International Airport this morning after overnight night flights giving way to the inaugural ceremony. According to Louis Zabaneh, the airline’s C.E.O., Maya is now flying to Cancun, Mexico; and Guatemala City and is also scheduled to fly to Honduras.
Louis Zabaneh, C.E.O., Maya Island Air Regional
“It’s the launching of our first flight. We had flights going out yesterday to Cancun and to Guatemala and then we brought the flights in this morning for the inauguration ceremonies in Belize. So we have people from Cancun, Honduras, Guatemala and of course here in Belize who are altogether now celebrating the inauguration.”
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“It’s a huge investment. It involves foreign partners and I’m saying that given what’s happens with foreign direct investment, Mr. Zabaneh was able to attract foreign partners is extremely good. But to come right to the point what it’s going to do for tourism, or what potentially it will do for tourism is exciting, absolutely wonderful. And I’m saying it could not have come at a better time.”
Jose Sanchez
“So the flights will be daily?”
Louis Zabaneh, Maya Island Air Regional
“The flights will be daily, we are actually running just half of our schedule because of the conditions in Honduras right now. We hope that those will improve and we can start the flights from there, which we should have started today. We will have a flight that leaves Cancun at eight in the morning to Belize; a fifty minute flight and then a nine-thirty departure to Guatemala. The aircraft then leaves Guatemala in the evening at five-fifteen and gets to Belize at six-oh-five and departs from Belize to Cancun around six-fifty.”
Another part of the new Maya service is online booking at www.mayaislandair.com.
