CONCERN over the future of the new Belfast-Barbados BWIA service is unfounded - according to the airline. When travel agents and travellers discovered that flights from Belfast International Airport to Barbados had been withdrawn from the booking system during May and June without explanation, doubts surfaced over the route's future. However, BWIA's Irish Sales Representative, Declan Murphy described the outlook of the route as "promising" and said he wanted to reassure both customers and agents on the its future. He told NI Travel News that 'aircraft servicing' was the reason behind the confusion. "The Airbus that operates the Manchester-Belfast-Barbados route is undergoing a major overhaul so we are replacing it with a different aircraft. "We are unaware of the size of the substitute plane, but we are sure that it will be smaller, not by much, probably an A320. So because we know the flight is quite full already for May and June, we had to take it off the system to avoid overbooking," he said.
Some members of the local Travel Trade were not so reassured. Charlie Steele from Corporate Travel said:
"There's been much uncertainty in the past few months on the lead-up to the start of the service and the
uncertainty over booking does not instill confidence in the Travel Trade to sell the product to their
clients for fear of it being cancelled at a later date."
Recently the Caribbean airline hit the headlines because it was experiencing financial difficulties.
Alarm bells rang within the industry when it was suggested that the Belfast flight which originates in
Manchester would be axed to offset losses. "There was a review and it concluded with the termination of four internal routes. None of BWIA's international flights were affected," added Declan. "Yes, it's true that the Manchester flight was 'looked at' because it had been suggested that it wasn't a profitable service. But forward bookings are looking healthy, especially from the Belfast end, so the Manchester flight was spared." He said that the airline is overcoming its financial hurdles with the help of the Trinidadian Government which has apparently injected £240m into the company.
The Belfast-Barbados service has been packaged by two major local tour operators, Falcon and American
Holidays, both of whom say they will continue to use the service.
American Holidays' Caroline McGarry said: "We are continuing to book with BWIA and we have been
reassured by the airline that this is only a temporary suspension. "Holidaymakers can still book with us from our extensive programme of packages throughout the summer."
Falcon Holidays NI Director Christine Donnelly said that Falcon was 'disappointed' with the not-so-smooth
running of the service, however as with all new programmes, it understood there would be 'teething
problems'. "We know that BWIA understands the importance of reliability in the Northern Ireland marketplace and are satisfied that the company is making every effort to ensure that all bookings made during May and June will be honoured. "We are confident that by June 26, when the company's
Airbus A340 returns from refit, the programme will be back up and running as normal," said Christine.
Uel Hoey, Business Development Director at Belfast International Airport said he was 'confident' about
the service regardless of rumours: "Although there have been some minor glitches coinciding with the
launch of the Belfast-Barbados service, we remain confident of the potential of the Caribbean market
from Ireland. "We will continue to work closely with the airline to develop the service so that the many potential travellers can avail of direct access to the Caribbean rather than the hassle of changing aircraft at other airports on the UK mainland."
Speaking about the service's future, Declan Murphy reiterated the sentiments: "I've every confidence in
the route. I'm aware that it has taken a knock, but encouraging bookings from Northern Ireland and Ireland as a whole are contributing to its well-being. "It's now up to myself and the Trade to continue
working together to make the route a success." At the time of going to Press, Bwias's website was
taking bookings from Belfast from June 26 and onwards throughout the summer months.

BY EMMA DEIGHAN