Former Antiguan tourism minister calls for reduction in price of airline tickets

A former Minister of Tourism in Antigua and Barbuda, Ascot Michael,  is calling for the removal of  the high costs of  airline tickets from one Caribbean destination to another, insisting that the sharp decline in intra-regional air travel, for more than a decade, is directly related to escalating ticket prices.

Michael says regional countries should also consider at least a reduction in air fares given that there has been a significant decline in intra-regional travel even before the Caribbean had to confront the coronavirus pandemic.

He said various analyses by respected authorities, such as the Caribbean Development Bank, have shown that a large proportion of  the ticket prices were add-ons of  taxes, fees, and charges that inflated the final cost to more than twice the base fare charged by the airlines.