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‘We are not paying American Airlines to come to BVI’- Hon Kye M. Rymer

- Said question of minimum seat guarantee concessions never came up in negotiations with AA
Minister for Communications and Works Hon Kye M. Rymer (R5) has noted that American Airlines (AA) is returning to the Virgin Islands (VI) at no additional expense to VI taxpayers. Photo: Facebook
It was announced by Hon Kye M. Rymer (R5) and American Airlines separately on December 2, 2022, that starting June 1, 2023, American Airlines will begin daily direct flights between the Terrence B. Lettsome International Airport at Beef Island and the Miami International Airport in the Mainland USA. Photo: AA
It was announced by Hon Kye M. Rymer (R5) and American Airlines separately on December 2, 2022, that starting June 1, 2023, American Airlines will begin daily direct flights between the Terrence B. Lettsome International Airport at Beef Island and the Miami International Airport in the Mainland USA. Photo: AA
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI- Minister for Communications and Works Hon Kye M. Rymer (R5) has noted that American Airlines (AA) is returning to the Virgin Islands (VI) at no additional expense to VI taxpayers.

It was announced by Hon Rymer and American Airlines separately on December 2, 2022, that starting June 1, 2023, American Airlines will begin daily direct flights between the Terrence B. Lettsome International Airport at Beef Island and the Miami International Airport in the Mainland USA.

Persons were able to start booking their seats as early as December 3, 2022, on American Airlines’ online portal at www.aa.com.

No discussion on minimum set guarantee concessions- Hon Rymer

“Throughout our negotiations and discussions with American [Airlines], not once did the question of minimum seat guarantee concessions come up. So, we are not paying American Airlines to come to the BVI and there are no minimum seat guarantees. This speaks volumes for the confidence American Airlines sees in the Virgin Islands and the high demand for our destination,” Hon Rymer commented at a press conference on December 2, 2022, to announce the return of AA.

A minimum seat guarantee concession usually includes Government paying for any empty seats or unsold seats in airlines via a revenue guarantee clause.

The Minister also noted that in many of the other destinations that American Airlines ventured into, they started with flights two or three days per week only; however, they will be flying to the Virgin Islands every day.

Negotiations with AA picked up in Las Vegas

Hon Rymer said it was in October 2022 that he led a delegation that included Managing Director of the BVI Airports Authority Mr Kurt A.G. Menal, and other officials of the BVIAA including the then newly appointed Chairman of the BVIAA Board Mr Theodore Burke, to the Routes World Event in Las Vegas, where the team met with several airlines, of which American Airlines was one of them.

He said since the Routes Event, the conversation with American Airlines shifted into high gear.

What we have achieved today, and other similar achievements that are in stream for the future is a result of a refocused approach towards air service development taken by this Government and the BVIAA, aimed at optimising the current facilities and capacity while at the same time fine-tuning the airport masterplan to meet the needs for future demand and continued need for air connectivity,” Hon Rymer continued.

After almost 27 years of service, American Airlines, under American Eagle, made its last flight from the Virgin Islands in May 2013, as it continued its gradual phase-out from the Caribbean. American Airlines' interest in Caribbean destinations has since returned.

16 Responses to “‘We are not paying American Airlines to come to BVI’- Hon Kye M. Rymer”

  • No Confidence (06/12/2022, 09:32) Like (4) Dislike (4) Reply
    Can you explain why your premier gave unprecedented access to bvi waters if AA coming here had anything to do with him or the party? Would that not make him highly incompetent, dishonest and a sell out to the BvI? Poor leadership. No confidence.
  • barry say you will hear (06/12/2022, 09:45) Like (9) Dislike (5) Reply
    Pyour lies
  • not nice (06/12/2022, 09:55) Like (3) Dislike (0) Reply
    That's good news
  • a good step forward (06/12/2022, 13:20) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
    that is great news and it is so easy to book. i just changed my flight to europe via st thomas /miami ...now bvi miami europe and it is actually showing as 145 $ cheaper... though i did have to pay a 60$ change fee. fingers crossed this all holds true com July when i travel. well done Government.
  • E. Leonard (06/12/2022, 13:31) Like (5) Dislike (1) Reply
    Every passenger transport system , ie, airline, ferry, bus, rail, etc, has a break-even-load-factor, ie, a minimum profitable operating cost. Every passenger airline that takes off and land incurs a fix cost and break-even-load-factor(PLF). PLF is a capacity utilization factor; it is different for each airline. PLF is paid for by paying. passenger. passengers. Generally, if an airline is attain its PLF, it will maintain the route;,if it is failing to attain its PlF, it makes adjustments to the route, including cancelling the route. Further, if an airline is not meeting its PLF on a route, it may often ask government to subsidize the route. By the way, IATA(International Air Transportation Association) average PlF is approx 80%. Bottomline is if it AA is putting butts in the seats, it will continue flying. It is about PLF, a key airline metric.
    • Curious (06/12/2022, 14:22) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      What is PLF? What does weight have to do plane routes? I’m engineering so I deal with dead and live loads
    • E. Leonard (06/12/2022, 15:50) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      PlF:,passenger load factor, which different from the weight of the airfrcraft. PlF is the ratio of passenger miles flown to available seat mikes For a 100 passenger airline with 50 passengers traveling a 100 miles =plf =100x50)/ (100x100)=0.5 and if the airline had a minimum profitable PlF of 0.8, if it would be operating its profitable target.
    • Load Factor (06/12/2022, 19:44) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      So as long as AA is at least meeting it’s break even load factor it fly and not bother government about subsidies? Good thing. We should have enough traffic to meet its load factor.
  • ta ta (06/12/2022, 13:40) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
    Kye is a sure seat
  • Fly Fly (06/12/2022, 15:37) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    Ok. Mehson , if we don’t fill the seats consistently this good thing will go away..so fly fly putting butts in the seats.
  • recent (06/12/2022, 17:57) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    i travelled recently out of beef isl. i hope all departure tax is included in the American airline ticket prce because boy oh boy...5 minutes to process at the departure tax window per person last week just will not cut it with 80 passengers to board. Airport needs to step up its game. arriving back the automatic passport scan machine not working without an immigration officer to assist...which kinda defeated to purpose of having them i think . just sayin. still, really looking forward to using this direct service
  • Two questions R concerns. (07/12/2022, 05:07) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    Who is the local agent. ? Hope it's not the Romney's that pays minimum wage and quick to shut operation when they can't make huge profit.....This also means that every weak Govt officials will be flying to Miami from Tourist Board, Ports, politicians etc to help fill the seats, we already have a paid luxury apt in Miami.. it's all adding up...Good move.
  • @ CURIOUS (07/12/2022, 15:02) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    My friend you got a very QUICK responce from the great historian , can you help us out to get him to RESPOND to this ( island people racist degrading name , it's origins , by whom and what was the purpose ???? ? ? ? WE ARE CURIOUS TO KNOW ABOUT OUR HISTORY AND CULTURE , NOT COLUMBUS'S
    • @@curious (07/12/2022, 15:54) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      @@Curious, greetings, I got my answer and don’t want to get caught up in whatever pepper pot you cooking up.


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