Prime Minister Gaston Browne and Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves
The Prime Ministers of Antigua & Barbuda and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are resolute that their countries should be beneficiaries of the revenue that Trinidad and Tobago obtains from overflight fees within the Piarco Flight Information Region. They contend that this region includes sections of their sovereign airspace.
The Piarco Flight Information Region (PFIR) – currently overseen by Trinidad and Tobago – covers skies from Antigua in the north to Trinidad in the south, and east of Barbados, stretching nearly halfway across the Atlantic Ocean.
PIARCO Flight Information Region (photo by icao.int)
Prime Minister Gaston Browne, speaking to Trinidad and Tobago’s Guardian Media, said his government recently purchased a radar system capable of monitoring Antigua and Barbuda’s overflight airspace. This is in keeping with an initiative first mentioned at Antigua and Barbuda’s Cabinet Press Briefing.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne
However, due to the current status quo outlined by the International Civil Aviation Organization, Trinidad and Tobago is tasked with air navigation services for the region that includes Antigua and Barbuda.
According to Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, this current setup was a holdover from the colonial days. He was speaking at his cabinet room press briefing when he referenced the situation.
Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, PM of SVG
“After independence, Dr Eric Williams, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, organized for Trinidad to control this (Piarco FIR) as a successor”, said Gonsalves. “But Barbados is locked out, and so too the OECS countries, from the management of this space, from any benefits from it. There’s no transparency in relation to the accounting, nothing at all.”
Any flight that enters the 750,000 square mile airspace must pay overflight fees for air navigation services. Between October 2023 and September 2024 – according to the Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority’s 2023-2024 Annual Report – this encompassed 108,728 flights.
“So that matter we need to sort out”, said Dr. Gonsalves.
We have the new radar system so hopefully once it’s up we won’t need to rely on TnT as much as we do now. We are totally capable of managing our airspace and affairs
This is exactly the kind of issue CARICOM needs to step in and mediate.
Always good when two leaders can unite about a common good
Dr. Ralph Gonsalves should just start giving the airlines instructions and advise airlines flying overhead to make checks payable to Antigua & Barbuda and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, respectively.
Dr. Ralph Gonsalves should just start giving the airlines instructions and advise airlines flying overhead to make checks payable to Antigua & Barbuda and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, respectively.