Saint Lucia is heading into the upcoming winter tourism season with more flights and seats from some of its biggest visitor markets, led by expanded service from the United States and a sharp increase in Canadian capacity.
Tourism Minister Dr Ernest Hilaire outlined the winter airlift outlook at Monday’s pre-Cabinet press briefing, saying the island is expected to have 295,244 seats available from November 2026 to March 2027. That represents a 7.3 per cent increase over the previous winter season.
The United States, Saint Lucia’s largest airlift market, will account for 158,010 scheduled seats, an increase of 9.3 per cent. About 890 flights are scheduled from the US, up 8.1 per cent.
Much of that growth will come through increased frequency on existing routes.
American Airlines will operate twice-daily flights from Miami throughout the winter period, while its Charlotte service will become daily from November through March. Philadelphia will increase from once weekly to three times a week in December, February and March, before returning to once weekly for January.
United Airlines is also stepping up its Newark service. From mid-December into January, what was previously a weekly flight will operate daily.
JetBlue will use a larger aircraft on its New York service, adding more seats, while Delta will maintain daily flights from Atlanta and operate twice on Saturdays.
Canada is expected to record an even bigger proportional increase.
Some 31,947 seats are scheduled from the Canadian market, up 39.1 per cent, while flights will rise 24.1 per cent to around 180.
Air Canada will operate four times weekly in November before moving to five flights a week from December through March. WestJet will increase to four weekly flights from January.
The UK market is also expected to provide more effective capacity for Saint Lucia this winter, although the number of airlines serving the route remains a concern.
British Airways will operate daily dedicated service to Saint Lucia. Flights which previously continued from the island to destinations including Grenada, Guyana and Tobago will no longer carry those onward tags, meaning the aircraft’s capacity will be dedicated to Saint Lucia.
According to the winter outlook, that change will result in a 36 per cent increase in effective British Airways capacity available for sale to Saint Lucia.
But Hilaire acknowledged that the UK remains a “ticklish” market because British Airways is currently the sole airline providing direct service. Saint Lucia has continued promoting the destination heavily in the UK, but relying on a single carrier also leaves the market vulnerable to changes in fares, capacity or service.
For example, a significant increase in ticket prices could make Saint Lucia less attractive or affordable to potential visitors, regardless of how much is spent marketing the destination. For Hilaire, that makes securing another airline important not only to add seats, but also to give travellers more options.
“We need to have the second airline. We will do whatever we can to make sure next winter we have other options. We’re working really hard on it,” Hilaire said.
Across the Caribbean, overall seat numbers are expected to remain around the same as last year, although some carriers are increasing flight frequency.
Hilaire said Saint Lucia’s overall increase comes as some other Caribbean destinations have seen airlines withdraw services or reduce seats for the upcoming season.
“So we’re really happy with the effort that we’ve put in to ensure that we have more seats,” he said.
