Island Severely Damaged By Hurricanes Irma And Maria

Two Canadian Airlines have announced that they will be curtailing flights to St. Maarten in the Caribbean for the winter season due to damage caused by hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Princess Juliana International Airport suffered severe damage during hurricane Irma in September. Repairs to the airport have been estimated at up to $100 million. It has been operating out of temporary facilities since reopening to commercial traffic on October 10.

The CBC reports that Air Canada posted a notice on its website that is is suspended all flights all flights to the Caribbean and Puerto Rico. The carrier is offering refunds to its passengers who had already booked tickets to those destinations.

Transat AT has also suspended service for the season, which is normally from December 23 to April 28. In an email, the tour company that operates Air Transat said that the tourism infrastructure on St. Maarten, including hotels, have been severely damaged and demand has decreased sharply.

A check of the WestJet website showed that bookings to St. Maarten were unavailable. Sunwing was not available to comment, according to the report.

Transat said that flights from Montreal and Toronto to Puerto Rico will resume in mid-February. Its normal service has returned to most of Cuba, the company said.

(Image from file)

FMI: Original Report