Air Jamaica Chairman, Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, says, "A lot of the problems they (the Government) will obviously have on the road with World Cup visitors wanting to get to Sabina Park would have been alleviated if they had given their support to Air Jamaica Express." - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

Garwin Davis, Gleaner Writer

World Cup cricket organisers would have been spared a lot of potential headache had there been a "reliable air service route between Montego Bay and Kingston", local business interests have charged.

They note that with the country having had years to prepare for the World Cup, adequate and reliable air service should have been in place to ease a lot of the pressure off road travel.

"For many Montego Bay business people, it is truly taxing having to travel by road to get to Kingston," explained Josh Winters, a wholesale supermarket owner in Montego Bay.

"There is currently no reliable air service where business owners can make their plans around so we have to either resort to chartering a plane or take it by road.

"Now with the World Cup just around the corner, persons leaving from say Trelawny, instead of having the opportunity to fly out of Montego Bay will have to take their chances by road."

Future regrets

Hector Sterling, another businessman, said the Government may live to regret the closure of Air Jamaica Express nearly two years ago.

"With Air Jamaica Express there was a routine schedule that everybody could rely on," he said. "The flights were consistent and business people could get to Kingston and back in a timely manner. What an opportunity we would have had now with those scheduled flights to get the World Cup visitors into Kingston for the West Indies versus Pakistan match and also for the big semi-final event.

"We could move the people in Ocho Rios from Boscobel and those staying in Ocho Rios, Runaway Bay and Trelawny from the Sangster International Airport here in Montego Bay."

Air Jamaica Express, which was owned by hotel mogul Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, was shutdown two years ago following what the Sandals boss claimed was a non-profitable venture.

Contacted on Friday, Stewart said he was aware of the concerns being expressed by business people in both Montego Bay and Ocho Rios regarding the lack of reliable air service from both areas into Kingston.

Broken agreement

"When we gave back the national airline in 2004, we had an agreement in principle with the Government that Air Jamaica Express would be allowed to continue using the same routes it had been serving," Stewart said. "The agreement wasn't honoured and the main routes were slashed. It was costing me a lot of money just to do the domestic routes and so I felt the best thing was simply to get out."

He continued: "A lot of the problems they will obviously have on the road with World Cup visitors wanting to get to Sabina Park would have been alleviated if they had given their support to Air Jamaica Express. These were nice, comfortable champagne flights that would be promoting brand Jamaica. The only thing I can do now is to wish them all the best."

The National Works Agency is already on record in saying that the North Coast Highway between Montego Bay's Sangster Airport and Greenside, Trelawny, will not be ready in time for the World Cup.

There are already concerns that just like the recently concluded Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival where persons were stuck in traffic for hours, there could be a similar occurrence for persons trying to get to Kingston by road.

Critics are also pointing to an incident several weeks ago where Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller got stuck on the Mount Rosser road on her way to Brown's Town, St. Ann for a meeting. She reportedly had to turn back, got stuck again on another route and was "more than four hours late for her meeting".