AirStMaarten - Monthly Newsletter - May 2011

The AirStMaarten Newsletter is professional with a personal touch, informative and to the point with news, opinions, background information, articles and promotions.

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In this May 2011 issue:

1. INTRO: May I Have A Reason To Celebrate
2. SPECIALS: Share A Charter To St. Barths For $250 Per Seat
3. ARTICLE: The Need For A Caribbean Airline Aviation Alliance
4. SPONSOR MESSAGE: CheapoAir
5. NEWS ITEM: AirStMaarten Researching Getting It's Own Aircrafts
6. TRAVEL TIP: How To Get Your Own AirSXM T-Shirts
7. AGENDA: Saint Barth Salsa 2011
8. ADVERTISEMENT: AirStMaarten/AirSXM.com Merchandising
9. CUSTOMER SERVICE: How To Book With AirStMaarten

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INTRO: May I Have A Reason To Celebrate
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Dear friends and clients,

May is a month of birthdays and anniversaries. I celebrated my 44th birthday on May 23rd, but I am also celebrating the 2nd anniversary of the "AirStMaarten Newsletter: Destination St. Barths" newsletter. In May 2009 I started this newsletter and this month is exactly two years of publishing. Trust me.... It is not an easy task. But I do it every month anyway because it is worth it.

In order to take things with the newsletter to the next level, I am considering publishing a limited edition glossy magazine containing all the best articles, photo's and items published over the last 2 years with recent never before published articles, news and photographs for all my AirSXM clients. If you are interested in receiving a copy, just drop me an email via sales@airsxm.com.

Talking about taking things to the next level, I am also considering getting our own aircrafts. Below you will find an artist's rendition of a 9-seater twin-engine BN Islander aircraft designed with a possible AirStMaarten livrey. Email me and let me know what you think of the design.

Finally, I am developing a merchandising line of products for AirStMaarten. I am talking about t-shirts, pens, mugs, waterbottles and caps. Again, email me and let me know what you think of the sample designs for t-shirts and caps below.

Happy Readings!

Terrance Rey

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2. SPECIALS: Share A Charter To St. Barths For $250 Per Seat
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Air St. Maarten Shared Charters Share-A-Charter Cartoon (c) 2011

For more information about our Shared Charters and to see the constantly updated Shared Charters Schedule online, visit http://www.SharedCharters.com

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3. ARTICLE: The Need For A Caribbean Airline Aviation Alliance
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Introducing The Need For A Caribbean Airline Aviation Alliance

by Terrance Rey

Introduction of the NorthEastern Caribbean Aviation Partnership (NECAP)

In my article regarding the new role for travel agents I wrote that with the diversified and widespread island nations throughout the Caribbean with their own identities, cultures and national governments, it is hard to create a unified Caribbean airline, but, that with a virtual airline operation you can create a Caribbean-wide network by working with partners and be able to provide the same service of a full-fledge airline company without the overhead costs and and bureacracy.

With further study and analysis, I have come up with a practical approach to implementing the virtual airline model without the need to address the issue of who the coordinating entity will be. The practical issues will be resolved based on the following key element: Recipriocity.

Recipriocity can be defined in this case as a mutual or cooperative interchange of reservations, clients and passengers, especially the exchange of clients rights or passenger privileges between two airlines or aviation entities.

A practical implementation of this idea can be found in the situation whereby airline and charter operators use the AirStMaarten Virtual Airline reservation request system to seek flights or seats availabilities or book charters on other partner airline or charter operators in the AirStMaarten partners network.

The operational theater for the present moment is in the Northeastern Caribbean area. Hence the intention to set up the North Eastern Caribbean Aviation Partnership. NECAP for short.

NECAP will be an airline aviation alliance set up with the purpose of channeling and guiding cooperation between airlines, charter operators and other aviation partners operating in the Northeastern Caribbean area.

Recipriocity will be achieved and made mutually profitable by having and allowing partner airlines and charter operators, who have limited capacity or no availabilities in their flight schedules or on their aircrafts, especially when these are completely booked out or the aircrafts are down for maintenance or due to a pilot shortage, to utilize the AirStMaarten reservation request system to book their clients and passengers with other operators and receive a percentage of the price or rates the clients have to pay for these bookings.

So, for instance, AirStMaarten normally books its charters with Windward Express. Windward Express can in turn, when its flights are booked out on a particular day or time, book reservations with AirStMaarten and use the AirSXM reservation system to process a reservation with a third party operator for its clients. Windward Express will receive a commission from AirStMaarten for doing this or pay AirStMaarten a net rate. AirStMaarten then settles payments with the third party operators and coordinates the operational matters and see to the proper execution thereof, thereby realizing the role wherein AirStMaarten fulfils the coordinating role in the virtual airline network.

NECAP will be used to give the necessary legitimacy and incorporate the rules and guidelines regulating this joint cooperation and working relationship.

It seems that everytime there are crises in the world with the resulting rise in fuel costs, the search for feasibility and viability in the airline industry and aviation sector is undertaken with renewed vigor. This time around it is not only rising oil prices and the subsequent threat of higher airline ticket prices and skyrocketing airport fees that are the driving engines behind this search for cooperation but also the impending imposition of government taxes on airline ticket prices and revenues and, most urgent of all, are the rising insurance premiums that are slowly but surely becoming unaffordable.

The bottomline is that a charter operator should have absolutely no reason to turn away a good client, but can confidently continue to service this client through the partner network as if he was actually flying the client himself. This way the charter operator can be assured that he will never have to sell a client a 'No'.

When the NECAP is set up, the organisation will consist of the following types of partners in the network:

  • airlines or charter companies with landingrights;
  • aircraft operators with their territories respective AOCs;
  • airport handling agents to handle the passengers and their luggage;
  • the coordinating entity (in charge of reservations, ticketing and overseeing operations), which will be AirStMaarten.

NECAP and the AirStMaarten Virtual Airline business model will be able to circumpass the different aviation jurisdictions in the Northeastern Caribbean region. The NECAP network will encompass the Dutch, French, British, US and other Caribbean civil aviation jurisdictions and create one unified virtual aviation territory.

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Previous articles in this series:

Introduction of the Virtual Airline Business Model
https://www.airsxm.eu/page.php?page=68

Introduction of a New Role for Travel Agents
https://www.airsxm.eu/page.php?page=74

Next article: "Incentivization As Another Key Element To Resolve The Practical Issues Surrounding The Virtual Airline Model".


Terrance Rey is owner and operator of AirStMaarten, Caribbean's first virtual airline based in St. Maarten; organizing and coordinating commercial flights, shared charters and private charters to and from St. Maarten, St. Barths, Anguilla, Antigua, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao and throughout the rest of the Caribbean. Terrance Rey is also the President of the Aviation Pioneers of the Caribbean Foundation (APOTCF). Terrance Rey will take the initiative to form the North Easter Caribbean Aviation Partnership (NECAP). Prospective members will be Winair, Windward Express, St. Barth Commuter, TransAnguilla, Anguilla Air Services, Caribe Air Services, Tradewind Aviation, Melmik Aviation, Jetbudget, Island Airways, Rainbow International, Anguilla Express, Air America, MN Aviation, Cape Air, Seaborne Airlines, Westindies Executive Air, SVG Air, BVI Airways, LIAT, Inselair, DAE, Tiara Air, Divi Divi Air, Caribbean Airways, SLM and many more. Once we have a true Pan Caribbean Airline Aviation Alliance, we can form the PCAAA or PCA for short. Or set up ANEWCAP.

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4. SPONSOR MESSAGE: CheapoAir
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Cheap Air Flightbanner

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5. NEWS ITEM: AirStMaarten Researching Getting It's Own Aircrafts
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Airport -- AirStMaarten is presently researching the possibilities of obtaining its own aircrafts in order to continue providing guaranteed service at the level AirSXM.com's clients have grown accustomed to receiving. This will require the company to initiate procedures to acquire its own Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) or utilize the AOC of a third party operator.

AirStMaarten is looking into two possible aircrafts to add to its virtual fleet of aircrafts operated on its behalf by third party operators, namely a 9-seater twin-engine aircraft Britton-Normann Islander aircraft - of which an artist's rendition is posted below - and a 16-seater twin-engine TwinOtter aircraft. 

Artist rendition of proposed BN Islander aircraft for AirStMaarten - AirSXM

In order to determine the feasibility of operating its own aircrafts, management of AirStMaarten is presently researching the viability of this option against the option of continued utilization of the virtual airline business model. The company will have two choices to consider, namely fulfilling the necessary requirements to obtain its own AOC or simply putting the aircrafts into operation under the AOC of a third party operator.

The latter choice would entail making a wetlease or ACMI agreement with an existing airline or charter operator with its own AOC and landingrights in the different aviation territories AirStMaarten services. A wetlease or ACMI agreement means that AirStMaarten would have an arrangement with an existing operator whereby the operator would be responsible for providing aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance services to AirStMaarten for a monthly lease amount.

Once a feasibility study is completed, AirStMaarten's management will put together a business plan with a prospectus with the aim of raising capital from investors through private placement or via an initial public offering (IPO) on the Dutch Caribbean Stock Exchange (DCSX).

Source: StMaartenNews.com 

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6. TRAVEL TIP: How To Get Your Own AirSXM.com T-Shirts
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If you would like to receive your own AirSXM.com t-shirt, simply send us an email via sales@airsxm.com. Based on the amount of people interested, we will determine whether to have the t-shirts made locally or produced and drop-shipped from a location in the USA.

AirSXM AirStMaarten Men's T-Shirt Merchandising 
                      AirStMaarten AirSXM.com Men's T-Shirt

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7. AGENDA: Saint Barth Salsa 2011
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8. ADVERTISEMENT: AirStMaarten/AirSXM.com Merchandising
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AirStMaarten AirSXM.com Yellow Caps - Merchandising


                      AirStMaarten AirSXM.com Women's T-Shirt

 For more information about AirSXM.com's merchandising, email us via sales@airsxm.com

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9. CUSTOMER SERVICE: How To Book With AirStMaarten
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Booking Procedure & Reservation Information

Submit a reservation request online at www.airsxm.com. Once we receive your request, we will send you a Reservation Offer for your consideration. Once you accept our proposal, we will require payment. You can use our credit card form to send us your credit card information. We accept all major credit cards such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express. You can also pay by bank transfer, check, cash or Paypal. Once payment is received, we will book the commercial flight or private charter and send you a Reservation Confirmation.

If you have requested additional services such as VIP Transfer Services, we will send you a Final Confirmation containing all details of your travel itinerary and services booked. And that's how you book with AirStMaarten.

Other Customer Service Resources:
Our Shared Charters concept explained in full detail
VIP Transfer Services through Princess Juliana Int'l Airport
Island Concierge Services on St. Maarten and St. Barths
Read what our satisfied clients are saying about our service
Ticket Insurance
We also accept payments via Paypal
St. Maarten Villa Rentals
St. Maarten Yachting and Sailing Charters
Sign up for our email newsletter service

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Contact us

- Website: http://www.airsxm.com
- Email: customerservice@airsxm.com
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