Caribbean people travelling less within the region
LAURA DOWRICH-PHILLIPS CREATED : 1 JUNE 2018CARIBBEAN NEWS
Speaking at the seminar on Air Transport Connectivity and Competitiveness in the region, Ram presented data to illustrate the state of air travel in the region.
Looking at four major airports: Montego Bay, Port-of-Spain, Nassau and Bridgetown, he noted that there are a number of hours when there is no activity in the airports and times when there is heavy activity.
“This particular slide shows you that there could be room for us to manage our assets more efficiently, that is in terms of when should we be scheduling flights for arrivals and departures to manage the asset base more efficiently,” he said.
On the subject of connectivity, Ram said global connectivity among most of the Bank’s borrowing member countries is on the increase with Grenada registering the most growth.
He said conversely when it comes to intra-regional connectivity, most borrowing member countries saw a decline with T&T registering an increase.
The major causes for this decline he said, are related to high costs and taxes, lack of liberalisation and inefficient operations of assets including aircraft.
Comparing taxes, costs and fees for return travel in June 2018 for extra and intra-regional travel, Ram showed that Bridgetown to Miami was about 24 percent of the overall fare, Port-of-Spain to Panama, 32 percent, Nassau to JFK, 32 percent and St Lucia to Miami, 24 percent.
In the intra-regional market, from Bridgetown to St Vincent, taxes, fees and costs were 37 percent of the fare, Antigua to St Vincent, 53 percent, Port-of-Spain to Kingston, 35 percent and St Lucia to Bridgetown, 54 percent.
“There is virtuous circle of air connectivity and we believe when we look at the study that there is this circular relationship between aviation and the economy. Increased connectivity can have a great stimulating output on the economy, and when economies are growing that can stimulate demand on the industry as well,” he said.
He said the study showed that a 25 percent reduction in taxes may increase traffic by about 13 percent in 2036 and there would also an improvement in connectivity and a reduction in travel time. He said improved connectivity could even provide an additional 140,000 jobs in the borrowing member countries.
