Heard that Bonaire is the place to start diving. Am going to barbados for a month from end of September and wondering if there are any flights from there to Bonaire.

Thanks

You can fly from Barbados to Montego Bay, Jamiaca, then on the Bonaire on Wed, Sat or Sundays.

Can also fly from Barbados to Trinidad (LIAT or BIWI), and then to Curacao/Bonaire on ALM. Not sure of the schedule though. Need to check out times to see if you need to overnight on Trinidad. Can also do the Barbados to St. Maarten (possibly on LIAT)and then to Curacao/Bonaire on ALM.

Avoid using ALM...they are not flyhing accorinding to their schedule. St Martin has them on "COD" to land plandes and a few of the dash 8's have been seized by creditors

Anon, please post your source for the statement that "a few of the Dash-8's have been seized by creditors". Thank you.

One other option is to fly to San Juan and then pick up the American Eagle and fly directly to Bonaire. Check for AE flights (to and from Bonaire via SJU) now since I believe they are still on sale!

Just did a quick check on Expedia. Round trip from Barbados to Bonaire via SJU is currently $333USD. Not bad flight times (except the 6 AM departure). Only need to layover for about 2 hours in SJU on the way there. And just enough time to clear customs and grab a quick bite to eat on the return.

Kelly,

Here's your source for the Dash-8 Seizure:

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WILLEMSTAD - August 10, 2001 - St. Maarten Daily Herald

The American company CIT ordered the grounding of two Dash planes leased by Air ALM until further notice, yesterday at noon.

Because of its financial problems, the federally owned airline has failed to live up to three monthly payments in the lease contract. This leaves ALM with only the other two Dashes it owns, but one is having technical problems and the other is going through a major maintenance program.

The airline’s three MD-80 jets are leased from another company. ALM owes this company as well, but the company is still negotiating a new payment schedule and continuing the lease agreement with Dutch Caribbean Express (DCE), the new air-line of the Curaçao Government which will take over from ALM on September 1.

ALM supervisory foundation chairman Bas Kooijman said the airline had been involved in talks with CIT for some time as well, but the company had insisted on full payment. When ALM indicated it could not make full payment, the company grounded the planes, which are now stored in the ALM hangar for the time being. The airline had taken this scenario into account and asked government for 10 million guilders to keep the airline going until the take-over, so far without result. Talks are also ongoing with the Venezuelan airline Aserca to see if it can help
fill the void.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it wants an independent bureau to analyze the business plan for DCE. It does not consider the current evaluation objective, because the firm conducting it was involved in drawing up the plan.

Air ALM and the takeover by DCE is one of the bottlenecks remaining to a new IMF agreement. The other two are the phased elimination of market protection and the 36 million guilders that still have to be cut from the combined budgets of Curaçao and the Central Government.

An amount of 34 million guilders is needed to successfully complete the take-over by DCE of the ALM operation: NAf. 12 million for redundancy pay of one third of the current personnel to be laid off, 10 million to keep the airline going and 12 million as working capital for DCE.

Holland has indicated willingness to help, but only if the IMF approves.

Prime Minister Miguel Pourier is hopeful that the IMF will indicate this weekend that the Antilles has complied with the required "prior actions," so that budgetary aid promised by the Dutch Government can be obtained. "If not, the only thing left is to approach Holland directly," he said.
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Not a good sign, if you ask me...

Jake

"Not a good sign, if you ask me... " That my friend is a major understatement. ALM should be called Phoenix Airlines when you consider the number of times it has risen from the ashes.

The positive result that may yet occur is the use of A/E to step in since they already have a foothold here. It is just a matter of time before the government will be forced to realize it does not belong in the Airline business.

Will keep my fins crossed Michael..

Guys.. To keep things in context.. three other news articles in Washington Post today..a) Dealt with Midway Airlines.. a significant although not necessary major regional airline on the east coast, filing Chapter 11, laid off 700 employees and immediately grounded 17 airplanes and abandoned half their routes today b) USAIR, nations 6th largest airline has gotten its pilots to reopen labor talks in hope of restriking an agreement for an airline most financial experts give about 6 weeks - 6 months to survive c) EMERY Airlines (primarily freight) grounded its entire fleet today... Granted government may not be the best managers but we are seeing a continuing major upheval in airlines.. and despite this little old ALM actually sometimes flies on time....

And from today's issue of The Daily Herald:

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WILLEMSTAD—Air ALM hopes to reach agreement on
leasing a DC-9 plane from the Venezuelan airline Aserca by Wednesday.

The plane is supposed to compensate for the grounding of two Dash-8 planes by the lease company, because ALM did not make the payments
for several months and agreement can’t be reached
on continuing the lease with a smaller monthly fee when Dutch Caribbean Express takes over from ALM next month.

A third Dash, which is owned by ALM, is in maintenance. This leaves only one, which
suffered a few minor technical problems to top things off.

In addition, one of the three MD-82 jets had to be taken out for maintenance as well yesterday. As a result many ALM flights are suffering con-siderable delays, although the company is coping by using the MD-82s on shorter flights as well and the only available Dash has been fixed.

The DC-9, which will be a “wet lease” with crew, is supposed to alleviate the problem. Talks with the lease company on the two grounded Dashes are still ongoing.
-----------

I agree with Michael, in that these problems may well lead to benefits for Bonaire, in terms of bringing in other airlines to fly Aruba/Bonaire, and perhaps from other area islands as well. While in the travel agency yesterday, I overheard an American lady complain that it took her and her family 12 hours to get to Bonaire from Aruba on a (ALM) connection over the weekend, and she was not pleased (for good reason).

Jake

And more from today's issue of The Daily Herald:

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Winair Requests to fly Bonaire-Curacao Router

PHILIPSBURG—To accommodate Bonaire’s request that it provide airlift service on emergency basis between that island and Curaçao, Winair will shortly station a Twin Otter at Flamingo Air-port. Service provided by Air ALM, the airline currently executing flights on the Curaçao-Bonaire route, has proven insufficient.

Winair sent a letter to the federal Department of Aviation in Curaçao on Thursday to ask permission to execute flights on the route in question. "Given the difficulties being faced in Bonaire in regular scheduled air service to Curaçao and Aruba, we have been asked by Bonaire to provide such service. We are willing to start this service on a very short notice," Winair’s Managing Director John Strugnell stated in the letter.

Strugnell informed department head Siegfried Francisco that the airline has an aircraft and crew available and arrangements have been made for ticketing, passenger handling and qualified mechanics to service the plane.

Since airlift between Bonaire and Curaçao is essential for medical, business and tourist passengers, Winair is seeking approval from the department and the Central Government, the managing director concluded in his letter. Indications are that Minister of Interior Magda Rafael will give a positive answer to that request.

Commissioner and Chairman of Winair’s Supervisory Board Michael Ferrier told The Daily Herald this is
strictly to alleviate an urgent situation and by no means should be seen as the perfect solution. Winair only has one Twin Otter available and to provide total airlift between Bonaire and Curaçao,
more planes would be needed. Winair’s decision to comply with the request of Leader of Bonaire’s
Democratic Party Jopie Abraham and station one of its four DHC-6 De Havilland planes in Bonaire had been taken because the airline wants to help out Bonaire with some emergency airlift on an immediate basis, Ferrier stressed.

"We want to help, because Bonaire has always been very supportive of St. Maarten’s quest. So management has been looking at all options to see how we can assist Bonaire. It should be clear, however, that with only one 19-seater, Winair is not able to adequately provide satisfactory air service. I hope
the people of Bonaire will understand that this is a makeshift solution," Ferrier said.

The Commissioner is confident that Winair will be allowed to fly one of its Twin Otters to Bonaire within two weeks. He announced that Winair would be looking at all alliances and business contacts to thoroughly study the possibility and what kind of equipment to use for long term service.

----------------

See also http://www.thedailyherald.com/news/daily/e78/wina78.html


Jake

Here's something scary - ALM running American Eagle's flights?!

From the Friday, Sept. 7th issue of The Daily Herald (http://www.TheDailyHerald.com)

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American Eagle, Winair Can Be Used For Bonaire

WILLEMSTAD—The Council of Ministers has no problem with Winair and American Eagle flying between Curaçao and Bonaire to compensate for the grounding of two ALM Dash planes by the lease company.

Because American Eagle is a foreign airline, however, it must be used by ALM to operate the route.

Negotiations to that effect are currently taking place. The possibility of having Winair planes fly was also approved. Prime Minister Miguel Pourier said the important thing is not to damage the tourism sector.

----------------------------

Jake

So ALM will run the Curacao leg, not SJU leg??

Wow..

Annie
Cape Cod

It appears that my "prediction" of August 14 may be a reality. I am sure the AE and ALM will reach some sort of compromise in who will actually run the thing. I believe the major issue now to be concerned is how much will the seat cost? Rumor has it that the flight to San Juan on AE has already jumped 50%!

The wording of the quoted news release is interesting: '...AE...must be used by ALM to operate the route'. If the words are the true meaning, it can be read that AE must operate the flights for ALM. For Jake's concern, it would read '..it must use ALM to ...'. His sounds the more logical but... 'Curiouser and curiouser'.

Michael, the current price (for October - which is when my Patent Bar Exam is in San Juan) for a mid-week (Sunday to Thursday) ticket BON-SJU-BON is US$224, which is about 50% higher than the special intro fares back in June (which were around US$150). That said, my four day trip to Miami (Wednesday to Saturday) last week was only $272 (for BON-SJU-MIA-SJU-BON). And fares from Boston to Bonaire via San Juan, roundtrip for October and November were $285 a few weeks ago. And then, to completely confuse the issue, my flight to Baltimore on American - BON-SJU-BWI-SJU-BON for 8 days, was just shy of US$700.

Basically, American's rate setting for Bonaire is comparable to the confusing mess which exists on U.S. routings.

Jake