British Airways adds 51k seats to Saint Lucia, netizens raise concerns over monopoly and price surge

Castries, Saint Lucia: British Airways expanded service to Saint Lucia by adding 51,000 seats for the 2026/27 winter season. The airline will operate a daily direct service from London Gatwick to Hewanorra International Airport, starting October 25, 2026.

In order to cater to the demand of the travellers, the airline expanded its service to the Caribbean region through Saint Lucia and announced its operations with a dedicated schedule. As per the tourism officials, the operations will allow US visitors to escape the winter and experience the beauty, nature and vibrant culture of the island.

The service will also offer later departure times, enhancing the connections between the Caribbean region and the United Kingdom. It will also allow travellers to easily arrive to the island from Europe, especially from countries including France and Germany.

During these summer months, several other flights from the Caribbean destinations will also return as part of the airline’s seasonal schedule. Visitors will be allowed to escape the winter season and enhance their experience in the Caribbean offerings and its culture.

British Airways has been connecting Saint Lucia and the UK for over 55 years, since its first service on July 20, 1971. It offers three levels of service to the island nations that include Club World World Traveller Plus and World Traveller.

However, the airline service has expanded, but netizens and people are not quite happy with the adjustments. Most of the citizens of Saint Lucia expressed their concerns over the hike in the price of the flight as British Airways is the only airline that connects the island to the UK.

According to Julie Redpath, one of the Facebook users, the expansion is not really good news as BA is the only airline flying to Saint Lucia from the UK, so they have a monopoly on prices.

She raised her concern over the prices and added that the economic return for the Easter Holiday is coming in at nearly £2,500 which is utterly ridiculous.

In addition to that, some of the citizens also asked the authorities in the UK that they have imposed visa restrictions on Saint Lucia and now they are expanding service. One of the users named Lyndel Danzie Black asked, “Isn't this the same Saint Lucia with a UK visa restriction, or was I misinformed.” 

There is another user named Louis John who raised concern and noted, “Put restrictions on them like they do to those going to the UK.” 

People explained that it would be nicer if Saint Lucia had a choice of airline from the UK, so that there will not be an unnecessary hike in the airfare.