Year-round access to Aruba is becoming easier for UK visitors as of this month, with the introduction of new KLM Royal Dutch Airlines’ flights on 30 October 2011.

Due to take effect when the airline’s winter schedule is launched, KLM’s service to Aruba will increase from 2 to 5 times per week.

UK travellers planning to connect to Aruba can catch flights to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport from 15 UK Airports, including London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow.

The flights will depart from Amsterdam on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays at 12:45 hours and will arrive in Aruba at 17.50 hours on the same day. The return flight will depart from Aruba on the same days at 19:10 hours, arriving in Amsterdam the next day at 11:10 hours, leaving plenty of time for connecting flights to/from the UK.

KLM’s new service will offer the option of a business class product on flights to and from Aruba, meeting customers’ different demands.

Aruba is also accessible year-round from the UK on a number of American air carriers, as well as British Airways, connecting via the States. TUI flies directly to the island from the UK from May to October.

Aruba Tourism Authority UK director Joanna Walding comments:

“The new flights will further reinforce Aruba as one of the top 10 Caribbean destinations for British travellers. With KLM’s increased service this winter, getting to Aruba is easier than ever before. With temperatures rarely dipping below 28°C, the island is the perfect destination for some winter sun “.

The sharp rise in APD is thought to have had a great impact on the tourist-dependent Caribbean, which falls into a higher tax band than the US. Many industry professionals fear that APD distorts the tourism market and could damage economic prosperity.

David Scowsill, President and CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), recently called on the UK government to abolish the Air Passenger Duty (APD) as it harms the Caribbean economy and the Caribbean community living in the UK.

“APD has always been a blunt instrument and a bad tax. The distance-based system is discriminatory to the Caribbean and the Caribbean people living in the UK. The Caribbean is closer to the UK than the US West Coast, yet it is in a higher band,”

World Travel Awards

On October 19, World Travel Awards will host its annual Caribbean & The Americans Gala Ceremony at Sandals Royal Caribbean Resort & Private Island in Jamaica.

The event is set to attract the top decision-makers and thought-leaders from across the Americas and Caribbean as they compete for the most influential accolades in travel.