American Airlines is set to relaunch another route from Miami to the French Caribbean, Caribbean Journal has learned.
On Nov. 6, American Airlines will resume flights from Miami to Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe.
The nonstop flights will be operating twice weekly, with service on Tuesdays and Saturdays, the Guadeloupe Islands Tourist Board confirmed.
The news comes as American Airlines is set to resume its popular service from Miami to Martinique a few days prior.
Habitation Bellevue in Marie-Galante.
The new flight complements existing service from to Guadeloupe on Air France, which launched over the summer.
Air France currently operates flights to Pointe a Pitre from both Miami and New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport.
The country’s entry protocols mirror those of the rest of the French Caribbean, with a required negative test within 72 hours before arrival and proof of vaccination.
The relaunch of American flights is a major boost for Guadeloupe’s tourism industry, which was hit hard by a number of lockdowns in the second half of 2021.
Another carrier, JetBlue, is relaunching its service to Guadeloupe later this year.
On Dec. 18, the New York City-based airline will return to Guadeloupe with three weekly flights, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
ST THOMAS — It’s always been one of the most stunning drives in the Caribbean: the waterfront route around the centuries-old downtown of Charlotte Amalie in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands.
One one side, there’s the heart of historic Charlotte Amalie, anchored by the shopping on Main Street; on the other, the green-hilled view toward Hassel Island and Water Island.
And now, thanks to a significant new revitalization project, Charlotte Amalie is getting a major new look — and is poised to become what could be the next great waterfront downtown in the Caribbean.
The plan began with historic Main Street, where the government injected about $16 million into remaking the street with Eurocobble stone and hand-laid stone sidewalks; that was along with new street signage; replacing water and sewer lines; and new telecom and electrical underground. That project had its ribbon cutting in April.
A rendering of the final project.
Now, the USVI’s Department of Public is in the midst of a nearly four-year phase one that will total $46 million, remaking a quarter mile of road along the water: adding two new traffic lanes, adding a new seawall; a landscaped median; improved storm drainage; and, most notably, construction of a new waterfront promenade, ranging from five to 25 feet in some places.
The second phase is more ambitious, says Derek A. Gabriel, Commissioner of the US Virgin Islands Department of Public Works.
That will extend the project all the way around the USVI Legislature; it will add a new water feature and make the historic King’s Landing Wharf its centerpiece.
The second phase would also include the area near the Legislature, above.
There will also be an even bigger promenade, ranging in some places to 70 feet, and the opportunity for outdoor dining across from the waterfront.
“As much as we need want to keep the nature of the harbor, it still needs a facelift.” Gabriel tells Caribbean Journal Invest. “And when you add phase one and phase two and the Main Street project, now you’re seeing that facelift while still paying homage to our history and culture.”
The biggest objective, Gabriel says, is to create more outdoor space and make the area more visually appealing. This second phase, which would go somewhere north of $100 million, is hoped to be put out to bid by the first quarter of next year.
The plan is to take a historic treasure of the US Virgin Islands and give it its place among the great waterfront promenades around the world.
Gabriel says his team took inspiration both from European cities and “our Caribbean neighbors,” and creating an experience that would let locals and visitors stroll on the promenade, eat outdoors and watch the sunset.
The changes are starting to draw interest from investors and developers, both on Main Street and across the promenade.
The sparkling new Main Street is already seeing new higher end jewel retail coming in, along with high-end electronics moving downtown.
Several parties have already expressed interest in doing a bed and breakfast or a more conventional style hotel like The Fred in St Croix’s Frederiksted.
“The idea would be something that would not only offer downtown living, but valet parking, rooftop dining and street-level dining,” Gabriel says.
And the landmark International Plaza building, for example, is currently on the market (it’s listed with Seaglass), and is drawing serious interest from hotel developers, too, Gabriel says.
“Everybody keen on it has been looking to buy it as a hotel,” he says.
It all adds up to one of the most ambitious downtown revitalization projects in the Caribbean in recent memory — and one that could turn Charlotte Amalie into an investment hotbed in the short and medium term.
And it’s all thanks to a waterfront landscape that’s been here for centuries —but is now getting its place in the sun.
“Very few residents actually pull into the harbor from the water side.” Gabriel says. “And when you come in you see one of the most beautiful downtown landscapes throughout the Caribbean. And I do see it not only evolving but also keeping that historic beauty. I see it taking its preeminent place as the downtown for the Caribbean. But I also see that as we’re adding features and changing it a little, we’ll still be able to hearken back to that rich past and future that we have.”
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