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Contact:
Julita Peter
Wednesday, November 15, 2006 – A new Virgin Atlantic flight from
Manchester arrives in St. Lucia on Thursday November16th, via the Hewanorra
International Airport. This is an additional flight to the service provided by
Virgin Atlantic in St. Lucia on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays.
Public Relations Manager with the St. Lucia Tourist Board Kirby Allain, says
Virgin has decided on the additional flight because of its confidence in
maximizing on the already profitable business it has in St. Lucia.
Allain says this is extremely good for St. Lucia, as the new flight will help
boost the number of arrivals from the United Kingdom - a very important source
market.
“In addition to that, it opens some new gateways into areas such as Northern
Ireland, which we have been eyeing for quite a while. As a matter of fact, we
have been doing some bi-lateral marketing activities with the airline promoting
the island within the UK as much as possible, so that visitors can reference it
as another option in getting to St. Lucia,” Allain added.
The new Virgin flight is regarded as very important especially in light of the
upcoming Cricket World Cup - one of the biggest sporting events to take place in
the Caribbean. Increased airlift capacity, Allain said, redounds to the benefit
of the local economy.
According to Allain, “People must get the options of getting to their
destination, and the St. Lucia Tourist Board as a marketing agency, wants to
increase the numbers, and the way to do that is to offer as many ways as
possible to get to the country.”
This expansion of flights by Virgin Atlantic comes just a few weeks after the
announcement of a new route between Manchester and Barbados.
The airline sees the biggest airport in the north of England as an important
part of its network and is sure it will prove a popular departure point.
“The new weekly service to St. Lucia in 2006 will give our northern customers
more choice of destinations for business and holidays,” said Virgin Atlantic
boss Sir Richard Branson.
“I am confident that it will be a popular addition to our route network.”
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