Business View Caribbean | Volume 8, Issue 10

35 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 8, ISSUE 10 here for cargo purposes with various freight forwarders.” BVC: We hear you have some exciting news to report… Robertson: “Yes, I have the pleasure of announcing that, as of Oct 13, 2021, we are having Virgin Atlantic Airways operating two services per week through Saint Vincent – on Wednesdays and on Sundays. It is a brand-new service and that has brought a great deal of delight to us! “Our Ministry of Tourism, and the Tourism Department in particular, are responsible for the marketing of the Argyle Airport and they have been working with Virgin Atlantic Airways for quite some time. It will not only bring us more people but we also want to optimize opportunities to extend our Saint Vincent and the Grenadines market to the world. “Virgin Atlantic will be our sixth scheduled operator and our first flight from Europe. Before that we only had Air Canada, American Airlines, and Caribbean Airlines, which went through New York. On top of that, we have the regional carriers and our locally-based and other regional charter operations. Of most important note, our local Saint Vincent and Grenadines Air (SVG Air) and One Caribbean Limited. In the case of SVG Air, they provide tremendous support in linking us with the Grenadines on a daily basis with morning and afternoon flights.” BVC: How has COVID-19 impacted passenger and cargo operations? Robertson: “At the onset of COVID, we saw a serious uptick in private charters because many folks who can afford it, say from Europe, were fleeing to the Caribbean to ride out the pandemic for what we assumed would just be a few months. So there was a significant increase in private operations in the main island of Saint ARGYLE INTERNAT IONAL A I RPORT