St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Qatar Sign Air Services Deal

On Thursday, St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves signed an air services agreement with Mohammed Faleh Alhajri of the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority in a brief ceremony.

Alhajri was accompanied to St Vincent by senior legal researcher, Essa Abdulla Al-Malki. After the signing, Gonsalves expressed gratitude to the Qatar government for offering their services to St Vincent and the Grenadines.

According to Gonsalves, Alhajri will “secure the approval of his Cabinet” on his return to Qatar. Likewise, Gonsalves will seek the approval of Cabinet in St Vincent and the Grenadines on the agreement. Gonsalves added that he would be invited to Qatar for formal signing in that country.

To this end, Gonsalves extended gratitude to the Emir of Qatar and his government for coming to an agreement with the government and people of St Vincent and the Grenadines on air services.

He also expressed gratitude to the “technical persons from Qatar and also from St Vincent and the Grenadines for their tremendous work in concluding the memorandum and the agreement.”

The construction of the Argyle International Airport was highlighted by Gonsalves, and its impending opening and subsequent operations. He further explained that it is important for the country to have air services agreements “with a number of countries with which we are friendly and which have shown interest in the development of our country and for us to have this as the framework for the actual, possible operations of air services.”

In reply, Alhajri, the head of agreements and international relations, Department of Air Transport and Airport Affairs, extended thanks to Gonsalves for “his warm reception and kind hospitality.”

According to Alhajri, the agreement will allow airlines to operate any number of flights between Qatar and St Vincent and the Grenadines, without any restrictions.

In his concluding remarks, he expressed pride in the signing of the air services with St Vincent and the Grenadines as Qatar is the first Arab country to sign such agreement.

Source: Caribbean News Now