Two regional airlines are offering special discounted fares for the 7th Annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development (STC-7) to be held in Tobago under the main theme of Keeping the Right Balance - Sustainable Tourism Through Diversity. The Trinidad and Tobago carrier, BWIA West Indies Airways is providing discounted roundtrip tickets from seven gateways in the US and the Caribbean to Tobago, while the intra-Caribbean carrier, LIAT offers special rates from 15 regional states for the April 26-29 conference, the Caribbean Tourism Organization has informed.

The Brazilian government is ready to trumpet two months from now a new South American integration project that will eventually open up the region´s air space to more flights and will bring in more tourists. The project, mapped out by the country´s Tourism Ministry, must be implemented within six months following rounds of consultations with other nations and once all red-tape barriers that hamper the opening of new routes and the establishment of more regular flights are knocked down.

LAN Airlines S.A. announced today that Fitch Ratings affirmed the Company´s investment grade rating. LAN is currently rated BBB-, making it one of the few airlines in the world to be rated investment grade. After its annual review, Fitch also improved the ratings´ outlook from "stable" to "positive". Fitch´s decision was based on LAN´s strong business position in the passenger and cargo segments, its low-cost structure, solid financial profile and liquidity. The change in outlook is based on LAN´s strong financial performance over the past 18 months.

The Trinidad and Tobago government will be injecting an estimated US$37.15 million into the cash-strapped national airline, BWIA, even as it laid down more stringent measures to help keep the ailing airline in the skies. Public Administration Minister Dr. Lenny Saith recently indicated that the airline would stop flying to Cuba, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Belfast, Curacao, Manchester and that new managerial staff would not be hired.

Aerolineas Argentinas (AA) has just added four Boeing B-737/500s to its fleet and will bring a fifth jetliner in the first half of May. A Boeing B-747/400 –subjected to a C revision in June before it starts flying- will also come in May, plus a couple of Jumbo B-747/400s that are due out by the end of the ongoing year.

The Spanish government has just given the green light to an air transportation agreement with Cuba in order to increase exchange in that field in the near future and willing to override a previous bilateral accord that dates back to 1951. The agreement seeks to favor the advance of air transportation safety between the two nations and beef up international cooperation in this matter in line with the 1944 International Civil Aviation Pact.