#Jamaica, June 17, 2022 – Jamaica today (June 16) welcomed its first scheduled international commercial flight into the Ian Fleming International Airport in Boscobel, St. Mary.

The flight, an InterCaribbean Airways Embraer120, brought 30 travellers to the country from Providenciales, Turks and Caicos.

Passengers and crew were greeted by a delegation led by Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett.

Addressing a welcome ceremony on the airport’s grounds, Minister Bartlett hailed the regional origins of the flight.

“The presence today of the inaugural flight from a Caribbean Island into Boscobel is a bigger statement than what has been made,” he said.

“Today begins a new chapter in the aviation history of this area [and] in the connectivity between this piece of geography and the rest of the world,” he added.

Minister of Transport and Mining, Hon. Audley Shaw, in a message delivered by Acting Permanent Secretary, Dr. Janine Dawkins, said the inauguration of scheduled international flights into the airport should “boost the popularity of the Northeastern region for visitors”.

The Minister said that the flights will ensure easier access to hotels, villas, and guest houses in the country’s northern parishes.

Chairman of interCaribbean Airways, Lyndon Gardiner, in his remarks, thanked Jamaica for embracing the airline’s services.  He said the new partnership will serve to boost regional connectivity. “We will now have the ability to bring people from across the Caribbean, whether it be for business, pleasure, or furthering multi-destination vacations, by offering Boscobel residents and visitors direct service across the Caribbean and vice versa,” Mr. Gardiner said.

InterCaribbean Airways serves more of the Caribbean than any other airline, with a network of 16 countries and 26 cities within the region.

Also in attendance at today’s welcome ceremony were Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Hon. Robert Montague; Mayor of St. Mary, Richard Creary; Regional Director, Jamaica Tourist Board, Odette Dyer; and President, Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ), Audley Deidrick.

The Ian Fleming International Airport was officially opened in 2011. It is named after the creator of the widely popular fictional spy, James Bond.

By: Mickella Anderson

Release: JIS

Captions: 

Header: Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett (right), greets Chairman of InterCaribbean Airways,  Lyndon Gardiner.  Jamaica, on Thursday (June 16), welcomed its first scheduled international flight into the Ian Fleming International Airport in St. Mary, which was an InterCaribbean Airways Embraer120.

1st insert: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, addresses the welcome ceremony for the inaugural interCaribbean Airways flight into the Ian Fleming International Airport on Thursday, June 16.

2nd insert: Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett (second from left), presents gifts to the InterCaribbean Airways flight crew, who brought the first scheduled international flight into the Ian Fleming International Airport in Boscobel, St Mary, on Thursday (June 16). From left is Captain Ciro Chacon; flight attendant, Joshua Christiano Small; and Pilot, Peter Stanley.