Peter Espeut
IF THE World Cup of Cricket 2007 is to be a success, the arrangements for air travel between the island venues must be smooth. Big changes can be made in the less than twelve months which remain, but as of now it looks like there is going to be chaos. As my four months of air travel around seven countries in the eastern Caribbean drew to a close, I couldn't help wondering what is going to happen when thousands of extra people all want to move from place to place at the same time to catch the same cricket matches.
Under present conditions, immigration and customs lines move so slowly, and the wait for baggage to come from the planes is much too long; I certainly am going to make sure I'm not around to see what it looks like with an extra few thousand people.
SECURITY CHECKS
And then there are the security checks; most airports now have only one x-ray machine; some have two; and the time to process the present light passenger loads suggests that this could be a bottleneck. Are they going to loosen up on the security checks for the cricket? If not, between them they are going to need to buy (or borrow) a large number of what are very expensive machines just for the few weeks. I hope they can borrow, for the cost/benefit ratio for the few weeks of use will not justify purchase.
Most of the small countries do not have direct flights into their airports from outside the region; When I arrive in Antigua or Barbados from Jamaica on BWIA and have to transfer to Caribbean Star to fly to Dominica or Grenada, for example, it is grief! First of all, BWIA does not have a luggage agreement with Caribbean Star; I'm not sure what the politics is between BWIA and LIAT and Caribbean Star, but you cannot check your luggage all the way through from Jamaica if you choose Caribbean Star. This is very inconvenient. And it is just not necessary. I think BWIA and LIAT and Caribbean Star should call a truce for at least the period of the cricket, for the good of the region. And then maybe it might continue afterwards.
Barbados is in the middle of a massive expansion of their international airport, and it looks as if it will be finished in time; but my difficulty is with the intransits. When I arrive on BWIA and have to transfer to Caribbean Star the grief is at the max! Remember you cannot check your luggage straight through. In Barbados you have to go through immigration and customs, take all your bags outside, and walk what seems like an inordinately long distance to the check-in counter.
I would have thought they would have provided a check-in counter before the immigration counters to facilitate transfers; they would take your baggage, and you would then directly enter the departure lounge to avoid having to go through immigration and customs.
DEFINITE NO!
I asked whether this was in the works and was given a definite no! Cricket fans travelling to matches in the smaller islands who use Barbados as their hub are going to experience delays which, frankly, are avoidable.
Antigua as a hub is much better; these arrangements for connecting flights to St. Kitts etc. are already in place; they will only require expansion to handle many more people. But if you have luggage you still have to go through immigration and customs, go outside and walk to the other end of the airport with all your bags.
I predict a lot of disgruntled cricket fans travelling to the smaller territories.
Peter Espeut is a consultant in sustainable rural development.
