U.S. Air inaugurates service to Belize
Coming off successive years of direct hits by major hurricanes, the terror attacks of September eleventh and a looming worldwide recession, Belize’s tourism industry deserves a break. And this year it’s getting one in the form of a tremendous increase in the number of airlines serving the country. The first newcomer out of the gate this weekend was U.S. Air. News 5’s Jacqueline Woods and Brent Toombs were on board for the inaugural flight.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
On Saturday, U.S. Airways inaugurated its four-times-a-week service to Belize. To celebrate the occasion, there was a ceremony before departure at Charlotte’s Douglas International Airport. Charlotte, North Carolina is the operational hub for U.S. Airways, having about four hundred connecting flights per day. This means that a gateway to and from the most populated part of the United States has now been opened.
Gary Spellman, Accounts Manager, U.S. Airways
“We are very intensive with our network throughout the northeast, the New England states, the Mid Atlantic and the Mid Western United States.”
Jacqueline Woods
“What sort of marketing did U.S. Airways do to get these passengers on?”
Gary Spellman
“Well the initial flights are usually easy because we can do press releases and have glad people like you come and cover the event, so the inaugural festivities today are among them. The true test is to see if we can sustain loads like this throughout the coming year.”
U.S. Airways will be using an Airbus 319 for its flights to Belize. It’s the stalwart of the airline’s fleet. The plane can seat one hundred and twenty passengers. On its inaugural flight, the plane was ninety percent full. Therese Rath, who chairs the Belize Tourism Board, says she is encouraged by the response and say the work will continue to make sure future flights are just as successful.
Therese Rath, Chairperson, B.T.B.
“It’s not so much as their coming and they are just bringing an airplane, we are working together on the marketing to make sure that their planes are full and our hotels are full.”
Jacqueline Woods
“So you must be pleased then by the number of passengers who have actually checked in to fly to Belize?”
Therese Rath
“Yes. Actually, I think this flight is just about full and they have had a number of airfare sales over the past few weeks and they have had very good luck coming into the season.”
But no one could have been more enthused about the flight than Captain Jim Corbusier. Corbusier had the honour of piloting the first flight to Belize.
Jim Corbusier, Captain, U.S. Airways
“Well we are very encouraged for U.S. Airways. We have a growing Caribbean network and Belize will be an important part of that service for the future. So we’re very encouraged to go down there. I was down there about two months ago helping set up the service and it’ll be good to see this through and continuing.”
At Charlotte’s departure lounge we spoke with some of the passengers waiting to get on board.
Jacqueline Woods
“Is this your first trip to Belize?”
Passenger #1
“It is.”
Jacqueline Woods
“How are you looking forward to it?”
Passenger #1
“I’d like to see what’s down there.”
Jacqueline Woods
“What have you heard about the country?”
Passenger #1
“Great oceans, lot of fun, lot of things to do down there.”
Passenger #2
“It’s the first time, we are celebrating my birthday.”
Jacqueline Woods
“Happy birthday to you.”
Passenger #2
“Thank you.”
Jacqueline Woods
“Do you have any plans when you get to Belize? Do any SCUBA diving?”
Passenger #3
“SCUBA diving and just basically enjoying the weather and each others’ company.”
During the three and a half hour flight, we met the only two Belizeans who decided to take advantage of the direct service. Omar and Vanessa Gomez say they could not resist after reading about the flight on the internet.
Vanessa Gomez, Passenger, U.S. Airways
“Well we had heard that they were going to start flying in Belize, but I didn’t know that it would be that soon too, so we decided to take the flight home.”
Jacqueline Woods
“So this is something that is very convenient for you both?”
Omar Gomez
“She has family in Virginia and so I guess we will be coming up to visit family. We were just visiting friends in Virginia and going back home now.”
Following the arrival in Belize, there was a welcoming ceremony at the Philip Goldson International airport. According David Johnson, U.S. Airways Commercial Director of the Caribbean and Latin America, it took over a year for the service to Belize be finalized. The process was delayed following the terrorist attacks in the U.S. on September eleventh and the subsequent cut backs on flights by U.S. airline companies.
David Johnson, Commercial Dir., Caribbean/Latin America
“That’s absolutely true and that is the reason that after September eleventh, we sort of put on hold any future plans. We put our real focus on our existing destinations and then on the destinations we had already committed to start last fall. It’s important to follow through on what you say you are going to do, and that is why there was a bit of delay for Belize. But once we took the decision we are giving it a hundred and ten percent as we do with all our destinations.”
Minister of Tourism Mark Espat, says the inaugural flight is another giant step in their ongoing work to promote Belize and give Belizeans and visitors alike the unique opportunity to travel easily around the globe.
Mark Espat, Minister of Tourism
“The Charlotte hub which is U.S. Airway’s major hub will connect to sixty cities. This four times a week flight will give Belizeans as well as tourists greater options, and I believe cheaper fares in accessing not just Charlotte, but really the world. And so that is why we are so excited.”
U.S. Airways will be flying to and from Belize on Saturdays, Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Reservations can be made at any travel agency. Jacqueline Woods for News 5.
On November twenty-first, Air Jamaica will inaugurate similar four-times-a-week service via Montego Bay. In December, American Airlines will ad an additional flight to Miami, while Continental will try out a direct run from Newark each Saturday. The one drawback to all this new capacity is that it is primarily aimed at the same U.S. east coast market and there is speculation that there is not enough demand for all those seats.