CAL cancels flights because of tropical storm

CARIBBEAN Airlines (CAL) announced that five flights were cancelled today MONDAY, and the Prime Minister cut short his trip to Barbados short because of Tropical Storm Dorian.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Barbados, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines and a Tropical Storm Watch for Dominica, Martinique, Grenada and its dependencies.

"On the current forecast track, this system poses no direct threat to TT," the Met Office said.

In a release CAL said the flights were: BW 448 Port of Spain to Barbados; BW 449 Barbados to Port of Spain; BW 455 Kingston to Barbados; BW 454 Barbados to Kingston; and BW 459 Port of Spain to Barbados.

The Prime Minister returned from Barbados early this (MONDAY) morning ahead of the planned shutdown of air transport as a result of Tropical Storm Dorian.

Dr Rowley and Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two countries on Saturday in Bridgetown.

The Met Office reported that at 5 am Monday the US National Hurricane Center in Miami was continuing to issue advisories on Tropical Storm Dorian, and at that time it was near 11.9N 56.4W, or about 365 km east-southeast of Barbados.

Dorian is moving slightly north of west at 22 km/h. A turn towards the west-northwest is expected later Monday and this motion is forecast to continue through Tuesday night.

This system is forecast to slowly strengthen over the next few days and could be near hurricane strength upon entering the Caribbean Sea.

CAL said passengers should contact the airline's reservation offices for rebooking on the next available service.

CAL added, to minimise inconvenience to customers holding confirmed tickets for travel from August 26-28, the airline is allowing people whose travel plans are affected by the storm to rebook without change fees, subject to certain conditions..

The waivers include travel to or from Piarco Airport, Trinidad, Grantley Adams International Airport, Barbados and Norman Manley International Airport, Kingston, Jamaica.

Customers are advised to visit www.caribbean-airlines.com and check their flight status before going to the airport or to call the CAL call centres for further details.