BWIA West Indies Airways, the international airline of the Caribbean, has announced the introduction of flights from Glasgow Prestwick International and Belfast International.The weekly service from Prestwick will fly non-stop to Barbados, continuing to Port of Spain, Trinidad, with connections available to Tobago. The Belfast service will operate non-stop to Barbados and continue to Port of Spain. Both flights are scheduled to operate with an Airbus A340-300 aircraft in a two-class configuration, with introductory fares starting at £299 in Economy and £999 in Business/First.

BWIA’s Director Marketing & Sales UK & Europe, Peter Iland, commented: “This initiative will enable Caribbean destined passengers from Scotland or Northern Ireland to avoid the long and expensive journey to London. We recognise that this new air service will make some of the most beautiful islands in the world much more accessible to a large number of people and look forward to bringing our famous Caribbean warmth to these new destinations.”

The services will also provide improved commercial links between the developing Caricom Region and these important areas in the United Kingdom. At the UK/Caribbean Forum held this year in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, the Foreign Ministers of all the Caricom countries met with UK officials to discuss ways to increase trade and development between the UK and the wider Caricom Region. A spokesperson for Jack Straw said that the Foreign Secretary, together with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the Chief Minister in the Scottish Executive, welcomed BWIA’s new routes and the benefits for relations between the UK and the Caribbean they will bring.

Glasgow flights will depart from Prestwick on Saturdays at 14.10hrs, arriving in Barbados at 18.40 hrs, continuing to Port of Spain and arriving at 20.15 hrs. The Belfast flights will operate on Sundays at 15.50 hrs, arriving in Barbados at 20.20 hrs, continuing to Port of Spain and arriving at 21.55 hrs.

Return flights to Glasgow depart on Fridays from Port of Spain at 20.30 hrs and Barbados at 22.05 hrs, arriving in Prestwick on Saturdays at 13.35 hrs following an intermediate stop in Manchester. Flights to Belfast depart on Saturdays from Port of Spain at 22.15 hrs and Barbados at 23.50 hrs, arriving in Belfast on Sundays at 15.05 hrs via Manchester.

The new services will launch on 16 January 2005, bringing BWIA’s UK service points to four, and with the range of connections available in the Caribbean, clearly put BWIA as the lead carrier from the UK to the Caribbean. BWIA currently offers a daily service from London Heathrow to Port of Spain, Trinidad, daily to Tobago, twice-weekly to Antigua, three-times weekly to Barbados and twice-weekly to St. Lucia.
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