Caribbean ministers agree to release air transportation rights

Members of the Council of Ministers of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) agreed in Panama to release air transportation in the region and appointed Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Franklin Delano to preside over the institution.

The Council also passed the protocol for the establishment of the Grand Caribbean Sustainable Tourism Zone. Both agreements will now be forwarded to the Fourth ACS Summit for final ratification.

“The new agreement on air transportation for the region will allow the release of flight rights,” ACS secretary-general Norman Girvan explained.

Mr. Girvan added that even though this agreement had originally won passage a couple of years ago within the framework of the Third Summit of Heads of State and Government in Venezuela, its implementation had hit a number of legal snags.

The Ninth Meeting of ACS Ministers of Foreign Affairs, held last week in Panama City, paved the way for the Fourth Summit of ACS Heads of State and Government scheduled for upcoming Feb. 13 to 14 in Panama.

The ACS is made up of 25 countries divided in full and associated members. The Grand Caribbean comprises a surface of nearly 3.2 square miles and 230 million Spanish-, French- and English-speaking inhabitants.