Air Turks and Caicos, is still locally owned.
Chairman Lyndon Gardiner told the public that is absolutely not the case. The company recently reached a long term lease agreement for its two Dehavilland Twin Otter aircraft with an airline in the Pacific, a move that should help improve the financial picture for the airline.
Gardiner pointed out that the recent revenue raising exercises by the interim government have increased his costs beyond the break even point. He notes that in addition to the Royalty Tax on Fuel, (the airline’s single largest cost after maintenance), there is now the imposition of the 4% new Customs Processing Fee on fuel and on spare parts (both formerly exempt from additional Customs fees for scheduled airlines) will hike the operating cost of the airline and make operating more of a challenge as price will have to rise.
Elaborating on increased costs and market conditions Gardiner says the cost to operate the airline has skyrocketed over the last year whilst the number of passengers needed on the flights to break even have steadily declined to numbers less than he carried two and a half years ago on his aircraft before the buyout of Skyking.
Gardiner says the airline has little choice but to resort to cost cutting measures of selling or leasing out aircraft and as is inevitable with the departure of these aircraft, laying off staff.
At the same time, the airline has suffered ‘consequential loss’ of business owing to the significant decline in travel on our international routes due to the time it takes to process Work Permit applications and the non-issue of Travel Letters.
He is calling on Government to provide relief from some of the new increases in order to allow him to continue providing essential air services.
