Building a CARICOM Air Transport Policy: Some Considerations

• Author: Natasha George
• Pages: 452-466

BUILDING A CARICOM AIR

TRANSPORT POLICY: SOME CONSIDERATIONS

Natasha George

Introduction

Air Transport plays a vital role in

Caribbean small economies as it has an effect on

international trade, business, tourism, culture,

and sports. In addition, air transport is cr ucial

for linking people, countries and economies.

However, according to David Jessop, for more

than two decades the Caribbean region has

been searching for a viable aviation policy

and in the process, individual Caribbean

governments have sought to limit routes, and

control schedules and fares in an effort to

develop national carriers. The consequence

of such practices, argues Jessop, has been

that national self-interest has triumphed

over regional integration and huge sums of

money have been spent on subsidizing and

restructuring national and regional carriers.

Yet air travel is important for CARICOM,

largely because it provides one of the most

vital sources of revenue and job creation in

the tourism industry. Moreover, air transport

and tourism are linked to each other in that

the international competitiveness of the

tourism industry in the CARICOM region is

crucially affected by air transport. In creating a

CARICOM Single Aviation Area and the Single

CARICOM air space via a specif‌ic CARICOM

agreement with a regional approach, market

opportunities for the aviation industry would

be created giving tourists better travel options.

It would also facilitate other air travel links,

creating opportunities for further growth

for sustainable tourism and new investment

opportunities. Additionally, the establishment

of a single air transport market under the

CARICOM Single Aviation Area (CSAA)

and the Single CARICOM air space would

generate substantial benef‌its for consumers

and create an atmosphere of competitiveness

in the CARICOM air transport industry.

Furthermore, having an agreement that creates

the CSAA and the Single CARICOM air

space will further concretize the economic

and political integration that CARICOM

Heads of Government are committed to

operationalising under the CARICOM Single

Market and Economy (CSME). Whichever

model the CSAA or the Single CARICOM air

space emulates, it is important to understand

that the overall objective for CARICOM

economies is to offer the best prospect of safe

and secure air services that are cost effective,

reliable, sustainable, and consistent with the

long-term development strategies that are

aimed at sustaining the tourism industry in the

region. The establishment of this CARICOM

Single Aviation Area and this Single

CARICOM air space under the CSME will

ensure the maximisation of inbound tourism

travel and intra-tourism travel by having

regulated air travel and a single liberalised air

space, facilitating the free f‌low of goods within

the region.

The purpose of this Chapter is to examine

the possibility of creating an Agreement that

establishes the CARICOM Single Aviation

Area (CSAA) and the Single CARICOM air

space, within the commitment of establishing

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