A major agreement has been signed between LIAT20 and BlueSea – the Latin American Traveler company to operate weekly charters to Cartagena, Colombia in South America.
The announcement was made at a news conference on Tuesday that featured, Chief Executive Officer of BlueSea Ltd., Maria Britto Bettini and officials of the Ministry of Tourism led by Minister Charles Fernandez and CEO of the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority, Colin C. James.
“The idea is that LIAT20 will collaborate with BlueSea Ltd., which is a destination management company, and the first flight is scheduled for September 12, 2025. The plan is to start with a weekly charter and I am confident that it will build going forward and we may even reach to daily flights,” Minister Fernandez remarked.
He said the example of LIAT20 going into Montego Bay Jamaica last week only shows that the airline plans to create links with the entire Caribbean in terms of providing the vital air link. Fernandez noted that many nationals travel to Colombia for health care services and they often encounter much difficulties making that connection especially those without US visas. “People traveling to Colombia for cancer care often have to traverse several airports in order to get there. This charter will hopefully eliminate much of that,” he stated.
BlueSea CEO and owner, Britto Bettini noted that she has been working for some time to create direct links between Colombia and Antigua and Barbuda. She said while actual flights had started prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this all came to a halt with the international concerns caused by the pandemic.
“Because we see the importance of having that direct flights to Colombia, we decided to engage LIAT20, the national/regional carrier now operating flights, we decided to approach the directors and we signed an agreement last week where we will commence operations in September. Much as it seems as a big challenge now, we are ready for the challenge. We have many needs that we wish to facilitate with our services to nationals of Antigua and Barbuda and other Caribbean states. Already many nationals travel for cancer care in Colombia with the advantage of our charter is that it is a non-stop 2-and-a-half hour flight,” she explained.
ABTA CEO James welcomed the move noting that South America is the first region for tourism growth internationally and any direct flight to Colombia has the potential to open up that continent to Antigua and Barbuda as a source market.
