With the recent discourse between the British Virgin Islands Airport Authority (BVIAA) and local operator VI Airlink (VIL, Tortola) regarding the provision of hangar space being played out in the media, Andrew Fahie, the islands' Premier, is now getting involved in the dispute.
According to local publication BVI Platinum News, Fahie has asked the BVIAA to “provide a full report of factual information to the Members of the House of Assembly outlining the issues.” He was also keen to understand why the concerns of VI Airlink could not be addressed and what was being done to solve the problem.
The need for the Premier's intervention comes as a result of the BVIAA's decision to start building and renting hangar spaces to airlines, which upset incumbent V1 Airlink, as it had a previous cheaper arrangement where it was able to lease or own land at the airport for up to 25 years.
The BVIAA needs to replace the hangar stock at the airport following the devastating Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 which completely destroyed the existing facilities. During this current hiatus of suitable hangarage, VI Airlink is having to maintain its largest aircraft in Anguilla, Puerto Rico and Florida in the US.
The airport authority did advise that contracts had already been signed and the project was well advanced with the company that was expanding the hangars and developing the ramp areas with more capacity. It also said that it was keen to look after the needs of local carriers like VI Airlink, but that it had to develop in a responsible way.
According to the operator's website, it has a fleet of three aircraft - a single Cessna (twin piston) 402C, a Beech (twin turboprop) King Air A100, and a sole Beech 1900C. These aircraft connect to Virgin Atlantic (VS, London Heathrow) and British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) flights arriving in Antigua every day except Mondays and Wednesdays. VI Airlink also undertakes charter and medical evacuation flights.
