CAL operating normally

CAROL MATROO

OPERATIONS at Piarco Airport and the ANR Robinson Airport in Tobago are normal, according to corporate communications manager at Caribbean Airlines (CAL) Dionne Ligoure.

CAL increased its domestic flights to support the number of passengers affected by the disruption of the ferry service and to reinforce its service on the airbridge.

Ligoure said despite reports otherwise, all ferry passengers with confirmed bookings were accommodated on the 40 flights, on which a total of 2,756 seats were made available.

“Our operations are normal, flights are running on time, everybody is being accommodated, and contrary to what people may be saying, it’s actually quite boring. When I was at Piarco there were no standbys on either side, so things are normal.

“What we are trying to do is make the travelling experience as seamless as possible for the inter-island commuters who have been affected by the disruption of the ferry service,” she said.

The inter-island ferry service has been suffering since the TT Express and the TT Spirit were put on dry dock for maintenance. Ligoure said CAL’s instruction was that the airbridge would support the ferry until March 22. She said the Port Authority asked CAL for support and this was the time frame given.

Ligoure dismissed a newspaper report yesterday that ferry passengers were held over for hours at Piarco as they waited on their flight.

“The report was a complete lie. The headline on it was completely erroneous and misleading.

“There were no ferry passengers affected by that final rotation of the day. We had transported all of the ferry passengers earlier.”

She said during the last rotation there was a disruption, and some people were displaced, but none were ferry passengers.

“I don’t know what is this story that ferry passengers were stranded. That is not true. And the newspaper that published it is very aware that it is not true, because they would have contacted me and I would have told them no,” she said.

She said the airline was finalising arrangements for an additional aircraft to assist specifically with the airbridge.

The inter-island cargo vessel the Cabo Star got off to a late start back to Tobago because the vehicles brought across yesterday morning remained on board for some time.

Operations supervisor at the Port Authority Earl Sealy said some of the drivers (who travelled by air) took their keys, leaving the vehicles on board the boat. This caused a back-up of scores of trucks and vans waiting for several hours to board their cargo on the Cabo Star.

“They had to take off some of the vehicles with a forklift. They began to take off the vehicles some time after 8 am,” he said, adding that the Cabo Star arrived on time yesterday morning. It set sail just before 3 pm, about an hour behind schedule.