It is an anticipated boost as an Air Montserrat plane landed to applause from a small but very appreciative crowd who all shared the same belief that this service is a good thing for the tourism sector in the long run.
 
The honourable Chief Minister Dr. Lowell Lewis met Mr. Rogers and his pilot Mr. Bob Bartlett as they alighted from the 9-seater Britton Normanide Islander  making its first stop in Montserrat.
Minister of Communications and Works Mrs. Idabelle Meade later welcomed the owner and new pilot, a Canadian from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, of the air charter service which boasts the website www. AirMontserrat.com. She said, “today is really a memorable occasion for Montserrat, as we welcome back a son of the soil to fly an airline in Montserrat. I know that this service you are offering would assist us with our development goals.”

Mr. Rogers who warned that they were tired from the long journey from Canada, said, “this has been a long journey, I have been working on this since 1995, we were down here before the volcano erupted trying to get this service started. I joke about it saying the volcano blew me back up to the States but I had the determination to come back down here and we’re back to get this thing going.”

Rogers expressed confidence.“I know we are going to be successful,” he said. “Montserrat needs this and being from Montserrat I feel a direct connection to here and I’m willing to make whatever sacrifices necessary to make this happen. I feel very confident that with this project, this is the beginning of Montserrat coming back as a base for tourism and redevelopment.”

He explained that the service will be based at Gerald’s airport and it is their goal in the long term to have two to three planes here in Montserrat along with fuel to refuel the planes.

In the interim the plane will be operated under the banner of Trans Anguilla Airways until Air Montserrat gets it’s own certification. The airline will do charters between Montserrat and Antigua with hopes later, to be able to fly to other destinations.

Mr. Rogers expressed his thanks and appreciation to several people and said he had great support from the Government of Montserrat naming Honourables Dr. Lowell Lewis, John Osborne and Idabelle Meade.

The honourable Roselyn Cassell-Seally was also on hand to witness the arrival as she was among those greeted with a big hug by Rogers, and also among several others who were named by Rogers as having encouraged and helped him along to get to that point. She is the owner of the travel agency that will be the agent for Air Montserrat and she praised the efforts of Rogers. She welcomed him and said, “I am very happy he is here, he has been trying to do this for a few years and his service will provide an important contribution to Montserrat.”

Mr. Rogers revealed that there are two other partners, Mr. Marcus Jarvis from Antigua and Mr. Karl Wade from Montserrat who share the business with him. They expect to have another pilot join the crew next week. Mr. Jorge Cruz is a native of Guatemala.