News

WESTERN BUREAU: At least four international flights scheduled for the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston last night were cancelled as a result of unrest in the capital.

Three Air Jamaica flights - JM 037, which was scheduled to depart Kingston at 5:35 p.m. for Fort Lauderdale; JM 036, scheduled to depart from Fort Lauderdale to Kingston at 9:25 p.m.; and JM 017, scheduled to depart Kingston at 7:25 p.m. for New York - were cancelled by the carrier.

American Airlines 1049 from Miami International to Kingston was also cancelled.

Sources at American Airlines said staff were having problems getting to and from the airport because of the assault on western Kingston by gangs, while Air Jamaica said in a media release that it was monitoring the situation. Air Jamaica urged passengers to check its website for regular updates. Neither of the two airlines reported any disruptions to flights scheduled in the tourism capital, Montego Bay.

some arrivals affected

Meantime, the island's tourist industry remains under intense scrutiny from both local and international media. "The kind of publicity that Jamaica is getting now, it doesn't need," stated president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, Wayne Cummings.

He said visitors were still coming into the island, but a small percentage have opted to either change their arrival date or move to other destinations within the same hotel group they booked with.

Resorts such as Sandals, SuperClubs, Breezes, Riu Resorts and Iberostar have sister properties in other Caribbean countries.