British Airways is raising frequency from London to St Lucia next summer by two flights a week following Virgin Atlantic’s withdrawal from the route.
The additional flights from London have been scheduled between July 4 and August 29, 2020.
Virgin Atlantic announced last month that its three flights a week from Gatwick to St Lucia would be withdrawn from June 8, 2020.
However, it is believed BA will cut frequency to Las Vegas and Orlando during the same period to allow for the extra Caribbean services.
The move will provide an average of 600 additional seats a week to St Lucia.
More: Virgin to drop St Lucia service after 21 years
The additional flights will bring BA’s direct service from Gatwick to St Lucia up from seven to nine flights a week.
St Lucia is currently served by 14 direct BA flights that inter-connect betweenLondon, Trinidad and Grenada.
Tourism minister Dominic Fedee said: “This bold decision by British Airways, with whom St Lucia has a long-standing mutually beneficial relationship, certainly helps in filling the void left by Virgin Atlantic and their proposed pullout come next year.
“This new arrangement means that with more than 600 additional seats weekly, we now benefit from a net gain during July and August of more than 200 seats.”
Several marketing initiatives are being explored as a means of “added life” into the British market, he added.
The island’s prime minister Allen Chastanet said “We are elated with this latest development and the good fortune it spells for our continued efforts at growing visitor arrivals from the UK market.”