Manchester around the corner By CURTIS RAMPERSAD IT TOOK a long time, but national airline BWIA West Indies Airways has finally launched a twice-weekly, non-stop service from Manchester, Eng-land, to Barbados, then on to BWIA's hub in Trinidad and Tobago. Launched officially on July 26, the service offers eight destinations in the Caribbean with the online connections also available to Tobago, St Lucia, St Vincent, Grenada, Geor-getown, Guyana and Paramaribo, Suriname. The route will be served by an L1011-500 aircraft, offering 21 business class and 228 economy class seats. Two additional services operated into Manchester to coincide with the Commonwealth Games in July, with flights arriving and departing Manc-hester on July 14 and July 21. A team comprising some of Trinidad and Tobago's most prominent business leaders joined BWIA's director of Corporate Commu-nications Clint Williams on a mini-trade mission to Manchester as part of its inaugural service. After a long, ten-hour flight from Piarco Airport to Manchester Airport, made not so gruelling by the service and almost limitless array of food and drink in business class, the team met BWIA's director, Sales and Marketing UK/Eu-rope Peter Iland. Included in the group were Trade Minister Kenneth Valley, Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers' Association vice president Anthony Hosang, the Amer-ican Chamber's David Chaney and South Chamber president Wayne Moze. Minutes after the team disembarked from the L1011 on Friday morning Manchester time, it was off to a press conference for the British media launch of the Manchester route. BWIA's Iland noted "We have been interested in the potential of Manchester in particular, and the North of England for quite some time." But BWIA had been unable to file for a permit to begin the operation due to shortage of aircraft, he said. That problem was solved when BWIA took possession earlier this year of its new A340-300 aircraft which will be used into Heathrow. The new alliance with Liat will also provide additional destinations throu-ghout the Carib-bean and will open up the whole region to the North of England. The Trinidadian trade team was shown some of the city over its two-day stay. Manchester is fast becoming the most dynamic city in Britain and offers visitors a rich combination of shopping, arts and entertainment, heritage and leisure activities. Then there is Trafford Centre, one of the most exciting and innovative shopping malls in Europe. For art lovers there are Manchester City Art Gallery and Salford Art Gallery. The city's vibrant night life is often referred to as the best in the country and the city is also renowned for its rich heritage of sporting achievements; Manchester United FC in particular. From Manch-ester it is easy to explore the nearby Peak District, Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, Liverpool and even North Wales, all of which can be easily reached within an hour by car. For the local delegation, potential business opportunities were recognised. At a dinner hosted by the Manch-ester Chamber, Trade Minister Valley noted that Trinidad and Tobago and Manchester shared much in common, including a well educated workforce. Other members spotted possible links in telecommunications and trade. Less than a month before, BWIA also flew its first A340-300 aircraft into Heathrow on its inaugural flight from Port of Spain. The Airbus is in a two-class configuration with 32 seats in business and 252 in economy class. Not long after the launch of the Airbus, BWIA chef executive Conrad Aleong said: "The introduction of A340s provides travellers to the Caribbean with a whole new standard of service and reaffirms our commitment to the London route". The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (TnT Medical Assn.) http://www.tntmedical.com/ (Trinidad & Tobago Medical Association) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************