BWIA heads for Suriname By NADINE HOSEIN (Trinidad Guardian) National carrier BWIA West Indies Airways has taken to the skies to a new destination, Suriname.Beefing up services even as its pares staff, BWIA had the inaugural flight to Suriname last night. This venture will see BWIA operating a thrice weekly non-stop flight, the first of which landed at the Johan Adolf Pengel Airport. BWIA shall get a helping hand from the South American country's own carrier Suriname Airways, which is the airline's ground handlers. The newest addition comes on the heels of BWIA's weekend launch of a second Dash 8 aircraft on the Tobago airbridge. Tobago Express general manager Nelson Tom Yew stated that with the new plane, flights will now increase from eight to 12 a day. A shift of eight flights for one plane and four for the other has been devised, he said. Director of Scheduling at BWIA Deyanand Birju, explained that two aircraft are sufficient for the operations of Tobago Express, and the airline had no plans of adding a new plane to the service in the near future. During the ceremony at Crown Point International Airport, Aleong expressed his pride in the airline's effort to combat the reputation it has of delays. He stated that BWIA in association with Tobago Express plans to ensure that times for departure and arrivals are improved. The airline made its inaugural flight to Tobago on June 24, 2001. Tom Yew stated that in the first year Tobago Express had a passenger tally of 110,000, and thus far, for this year, the total has been 58,000 passengers. Aleong also seized the opportunity to slap down allegations that he had a personal stake in Tobago Express. "Conrad Aleong does not own shares in Tobago Express," he said. The CEO made a point of listing who the rightful shareholders of the airline were. "BWIA owns 49 per cent of Tobago Express, while Tobago Airbridge Consortium, The Ragoonathsingh Group and Orchid Investments each owns 14.6 per cent," Aleong stated. Air Trinidad and Tobago, held by Azaad Hosein, an ex pilot, owns 7.2 per cent making up the 100 per cent stake in the airline. Tobago Express is worth US$20 million, with BWIA investing $US 1 million to the start-up effort, the CEO explained. At the Tobago leg of the ceremony, presentations of the shareholders certificates were made to the representatives of each company. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBSC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeansocabrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (Blue Haven) http://www.bluehavenhotel.com/ (Blue Haven Hotel & Resort) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************