For Toledo, Tropic Air’s decision to end scheduled flights to Punta Gorda is about much more than air travel. When the service stops on November first, the district will lose its only regular air link, threatening tourism, business activity and the movement of cargo and medical supplies. Tourism stakeholders say the announcement caught them by surprise, while the People’s National Party is urging the government to step in and preserve what many consider a lifeline for southern Belize. News Five’s Britney Gordon reports.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
After decades of linking Toledo to the rest of Belize, Tropic Air is ending its Punta Gorda service. The decision has sent shockwaves across the district, with residents and tourism stakeholders warning of fewer visitors, economic losses and the disappearance of a vital transportation link. Joanna Audinett, secretary of the BTIA’s Toledo Chapter, says the announcement caught the industry completely off guard.
Joanna Audinett
Joanna Audinett, Secretary, BTIA Toledo chapter
“To be honest, it’s totally devastating from a tourism perspective. Um, we are already struggling, post-COVID. We’ve never really bounced back in Toledo from those COVID days and to think that we now don’t have the connectivity, people no longer have that option to fly in. It’s just devastating for our hoteliers, our restaurateurs, And you know, it has a knock-on effect with the whole of the community.”
Tropic Air says years of financial losses have forced it to pull the plug on its Punta Gorda route. The airline maintains that operational challenges, uncertainty in the domestic aviation industry and proposed infrastructure changes have made the service financially unsustainable. But the People’s National Party warns that Toledo will pay the price. Party leader and Punta Gorda resident Wil Maheia says the loss of air service will ripple across the district.
Wil Maheia
Wil Maheia, Party Leader, People’s National Party
“Devastating for the entire Toledo district. It’s devastating news. It’s like we got, like, woken up by a seven point five magnitude earthquake. I mean, for Tropic Air to suddenly decide to close its door to Punta Gorda, I think that’s a blow, not only to the tourism industry, but to everyone else that uses Tropic Air for cargo and the NGOs and the people in the agriculture that will send products on the planes and things like that.”
Audinett says Tropic Air’s service is a lifeline for Toledo, supporting businesses, entrepreneurs, postal operations, and the daily transport of medical samples. As a result, tourism stakeholders, business leaders, elected officials, and community members have been mobilized for an emergency meeting to assess the impact and identify possible solutions.
Joanna Audinett
“ Tomorrow morning, nine am at the Punta Gorda Welcome Center and House of Culture on Front Street, and we’re really just wanting to bring everybody together, excuse me, to talk about what the actual impact is gonna be to tourism and the wider community, and to start strategizing and come up with solutions, alternatives, how do we approach this. We don’t profess to have the answers to this. We have already made contact, our chairman has made contact with Dr. Osman Martinez, who is our Toledo East minister, area representative, and I believe that they are already planning meetings with Tropic Air. We’re really, really hoping that this does not come to fruition.”
The People’s National Party has blamed the government for Tropic Air’s decision, arguing that high fuel taxes and the recently introduced ten-dollar user fee have made domestic air travel unsustainable. Maheia is now calling on the government to intervene.
Wil Maheia
“We are calling on the government to make some kind of intervention, right? One, I believe that after talking to people in the industry, that one of the reasons Tropic probably decided to close its doors is because of this extra fee that they will have to charge the riders, which is ten dollars. That alone has driven down the interest in riding the airplane. The high cost of fuel, that I believe the government should consider giving Tropic or any airline who wants to run to the Toledo district some duty-free fuel.”
In 2022, Maya Air ceased operations to Punta Gorda forcing customers to transition to Tropic Air. Audinett warns that the loss of the airline would be a major setback during medical emergencies. The BTIA and other concerned stakeholders are now hoping the decision can be overturned. Britney Gordon for News Five.
Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.
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