St Lucia’s loss is Antigua’s gain in Virgin Airlines pullout

Virgin Atlantic says after June 8, 2020 it will stop its operations between St Lucia and London’s Gatwick Airport, for the ‘foreseeable future’. This after the airline asked for USD7.5 million over 3 years to maintain its current flight schedule. According to Tourism Minister Dominic Fedee, “agreeing to Virgin Atlantic’s demands for a multi-million-dollar subsidy would have opened the door for other airlines to also ask for a subsidy. In fact, upon hearing the news that Virgin Atlantic has requested subsidies from 4 Caribbean governments, namely Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and St Lucia, other airlines have been in talks with respective governments.” However according to Virgin Atlantic, “the proposed changes mean we will increase flights from London Gatwick to Antigua, boosting services from 3 per week to 4 per week, from 8 June 2020..