American Airlines made a historic landing in Dominica on Wednesday. The airline took off from Miami, Florida, and made a direct flight to the newly revamped Douglas Charles Airport in Dominica. Tourism Minister Denise Charles was aboard the flight and Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit welcomed the passengers when they disembarked.
Skerrit praised the DLP administration for facilitating the first direct intercontinental flight from the United States to Dominica. He said the government will speed up the construction of the ongoing international airport in the country so that daily flights from the US can be a daily experience in Dominica.
The prime minister credited the efforts of CEO of DASPA, Benoit Bardouille, and Tourism Minister Denise Charles for making the first direct US flight to Dominica possible. He also thanked the US ambassador based in Barbados, Jungle Bay Resort manager Samuel Raphael, Discover Dominica Authority manager Colin Piper, and Chekira Hypolite of the Ministry of Tourism for the success of their endeavours.
Hypolite said COVID-19 protocols would not allow the general public to be physically present to witness the landing of the plane, but invited everyone to hook up on social media to see the inaugural landing. Raphael called the landing a historic moment in the history of Dominica and said it was a dream come true for everyone involved.
He said direct flights to the country will boost the tourism and hospitality sector in Dominica.
I’m a hotel owner and there are many hotel owners and other people that are tourism providers in Dominica,” Raphael stated. Air access has been one of our biggest challenges and this is the beginning. This is not the end of it all but this is the beginning of something new so this is very important. We should celebrate and support this new service to ensure its sustainability.”
Samuel Raphael, Jungle Bay Resort Manager
He said the direct flights from the United States to Dominica can only accommodate a total of 76 passengers to the Douglas Charles Airport, and that larger planes with greater capacity will begin to land in Dominica once the ongoing international airport is completed. He said passengers will be paying a slightly higher fee for the smaller planes coming into the country, but the prices will drop significantly when bigger planes begin to come following the completion of the international airport.
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