PM says flight disruptions can have serious consequences for tourism-dependent countries like Antigua

Prime Minister Gaston Browne says recent U.S. military action in Venezuela has already begun to affect air travel in the region, warning that even brief disruptions can have serious consequences for tourism-dependent countries like Antigua and Barbuda.

Speaking on Pointe FM’s Browne and Browne Show on Saturday, Browne said flight cancellations followed shortly after the operation, underscoring the Caribbean’s vulnerability to external shocks.

“Half an hour of military action in Venezuela has resulted now in a number of cancellation of flights,” Browne said.

He said Antigua and Barbuda had so far seen about six flight cancellations, but stressed that the impact should not be underestimated.

“Luckily for us, we don’t have that many. I think we have probably about six flights that have been canceled,” he said. “But six flights in a small island state with a few hundred thousand tourists is significant.”

Browne warned that a prolonged conflict could have far more damaging effects, not only on tourism but on basic economic stability.

“If it’s protracted, and the boats stop coming to this country, the planes stop coming to this country, what do you think will happen to us?” he said. “We can’t even feed ourselves.”

He contrasted Antigua and Barbuda’s exposure with larger economies in the region that have greater financial buffers.

“Unlike Trinidad and Tobago, which has probably about six billion U.S. dollars in reserves, we don’t have any reserves,” Browne said.

The prime minister said these risks explain why he has consistently called for de-escalation and diplomacy, arguing that military conflict in the region disproportionately affects small island states.

He added that the early flight disruptions highlight the need for greater resilience, including strengthened food security and economic diversification, to reduce Antigua and Barbuda’s dependence on external supply chains and tourism flows.

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