fp Turks and Caicos

A new airline that wants to provide interisland and international service for the Turks and Caicos Islands has filed an application with the Air Transport Licensing Authority.

A public notice of the application says Skycruise Airways wants to begin interisland and international flights beginning Nov. 1, including direct flights from Grand Turk and Providenciales to Ft. Lauderdale.

However, nothing will happen until the airline meets all regulatory requirements, gains approval from the ATLA and gets an Air Operators Certificate from the Civil Aviation Authority, according to John T. Smith, CEO of the TCI Airports Authority. Smith also is an ex officio member of the ATLA.

The public notice says Skycruise intends to provide daily interisland service to Grand Turk, Providenciales, North Caicos and South Caicos, service three times a week to Salt Cay. The airline would use a 19-seat Twin Otter aircraft for most flights.

However, on some busier flights between Grand Turk and Providenciales, Skycruise would use a 30-seat Jetstream 41 twin-propeller plane, a 50-seat CRJ-200 jet or a 72-seat CRJ-700 jet. Those same aircraft would be used for international service to Ft. Lauderdale, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Bahamas and Antigua.