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transport
Caribbean is flying high Travellers heading to the Caribbean can take advantage of new flights from Virgin Atlantic and British Airways along with a host of regional transport choices, says Steve Hartridge
GETTING THERE
The Caribbean is well served with flights from the UK, with both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic operating increased scheduled services to several destinations in 2021/22. At the time of writing, BA’s “dynamic schedule” of Caribbean routes lists Antigua, The Bahamas, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Grenada Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos. The airline will also lift the suspension of flights to St Kitts on October 3 2021, with a service from Gatwick – this will move to a twice-weekly service on October 16. British Airways advises that it changes its timetables twice a year and may also need to adjust flights at other times “in line with operational requirements”. Virgin Atlantic also has big expansion plans for the Caribbean. It will launch a Heathrow-St Vincent and the Grenadines service – the first direct service to the destination from Europe – on October 13 2021 plus a twice-weekly service from Heathrow to The Bahamas on November 20 2021.
Island sailing in Puerto Rico
The airline will increase UK capacity to Barbados by 60% from October 31 2021, and will offer five flights a week there from Manchester and 11 weekly flights from Heathrow. Virgin will be returning to Saint Lucia on December 18 2021, with three weekly flights from Heathrow. It also plans to launch three flights a week from Manchester to Montego Bay, Jamaica, from November 6 2021. And the good news from Virgin keeps on coming, particularly for those in Scotland planning a Caribbean holiday: the airline is to introduce twice-weekly flights from Edinburgh to Barbados from December 5 2021. The route will be Scotland’s only direct service to the Caribbean. Virgin also flies to Antigua and Grenada and expects to restart its Tobago and Cuba service “in the upcoming months”.
GETTING AROUND
BY AIR: The Caribbean is well served by an extensive domestic network, which makes island hopping by air very viable. InterCaribbean Airways connects Cuba with Jamaica; Turks & Caicos with The Bahamas,
An inter-island flight arriving in Saint Maarten
Several cruise lines offer Caribbean itineraries
Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic and the BVIs; The BVIs with Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Saint Maarten, Antigua and Dominica and flies between Barbados and Dominica, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenada, with more options seasonally. Caribbean Airlines links Trinidad with Tobago, Grenada, Barbados, St. Vincent, Saint Lucia, Antigua, St Maarten, Guyana, Cuba, Jamaica (and onwards to The Bahamas) and points in Central America, USA and Canada. Liat, a regional carrier based in Antigua & Barbuda, flies to Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and St. Vincent. A multitude of private charter options are also available. By Ferry and Catamaran: Scheduled ferry and catamaran services travel between several island groups. Operators include L Express des Iles, between Dominica, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Saint Lucia; Balearia Caribbean, connecting Florida and the Bahamas; Ferries del Caribe, between Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico; Barbuda Express linking Antigua and Barbuda; Twin Islands Ferry Service between Antigua and Montserrat; Anguilla Ferry
caribbean.co.uk
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