POND ISLAND – Acting Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT) Cornelius de Weever, welcomes the news that Copa Airlines will be returning with weekly flights in June.
“This is a significant development. Copa Airlines is a strategic partner where airlift is concerned from Latin America. The airline is the Hub of the Americas in Panama which offers the most direct way to connect to the Americas, while SXM Airport is the hub for the North Eastern Caribbean. The return of Copa Airlines will also benefit Sint Maarten patients who need to travel to Colombia for medical care.
“This mix fits into the strategic hub strategy in the form of an Air Service Recovery approach of SXM Airport which has been a primary focus post-Irma by airport management with meetings with being held with destination hub partners/stakeholders over the past months.
“On March 22, interCaribbean Airways commences with a new nonstop schedule service to several islands in the Eastern Caribbean with one stop easy connections via Tortola to Sint Maarten. This is additional airlift to the destination which benefits travelers.
“These developments are positive signs that things are moving in the right direction and our country will be back better than ever,” Minister Cornelius de Weever said on Thursday.
St. Maarten Tourist Bureau (STB) representatives attended the ANATO Tradeshow in Bogota, Columbia. This show is one of the largest tourism tradeshows in South America.
STB met with Copa Airlines management officials and the airline confirmed to resume flights as of June 2 with two flights per week and increase this to four over time.
Copa Airlines was founded in 1947 as the National Airline of Panama. Copa marked seven decades of continuous growth and progress last year where today it is one of the leading airlines in the Americas.
