Clocking in at under 10 minutes, this is the world's shortest international commercial flight
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Anguilla (CNN) — There's
no in-flight service. No business class cabin. No sipping Champagne,
choosing beef or chicken, or watching a movie. At just eight minutes
from takeoff to landing, there's no time for any of that.
There
are shorter flights -- the hop from Westray to Papa Westray in
Scotland's Orkney Islands clocks in at just 90 seconds -- but the flight
between the Caribbean islands of Anguilla and Sint Maarten is currently
the world's shortest international commercial flight.
So what's it like?
Connecting two holiday islands
Anguilla,
a British Overseas Territory just 16 miles (25.7 kilometers) long and
3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers) wide, is a flat, dry, limestone island
fringed by 33 white sand beaches.
It's
a favorite of celebrities looking for a low-key place where they can be
blissfully left alone. No one bats an eyelid here if they see LeBron
James jumping from a rock in Little Bay or Justin Bieber singing "Sorry"
on stage with local crooner Bankie Banx.
Its
neighbor, Saint Martin, sits just 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) to the
south at its closest point. Split in two, the northern part of the
island is an overseas collectivity of France, while the southern part,
named Sint Maarten, is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands.
Princess
Juliana International Airport in Sint Maarten has become a tourist
attraction in its own right with airliners flying low over the beach to
land on the island, and taking off again to equally dramatic effect.
Search YouTube and you'll find multiple videos of tourists attempting to
stand at the end of the runway in the face of fierce jet blasts as
planes take off.
Despite
clear warnings about the dangers of extreme bodily harm and death, many
tourists continue to come here for the ultimate holiday brag, with
people regularly getting knocked over, belongings blown out to sea and one woman being killed in July 2017.
The
flight from the airport to Anguilla isn't going to give anyone the
feeling of careening into the sea, though. The twin engines of the
Anguilla Air Services Britten-Norman Islanders operate at a much more
sedate speed.
The flight from Sint Maarten to Anguilla is operated by Anguilla Air Services on a Britten-Norman Islander.
Zuri Wilkes Photography
An important link
Captain Carl Avery Thomas is owner of Anguilla Air Services
-- the only airline offering scheduled flights on the route between
Sint Maarten and Anguilla -- and one of the company's five pilots. He
said maintaining air links is hugely important for a small island like
Anguilla.
Relying
heavily on tourism, most Anguillian families have at least one member
working in the industry, and this short flight is crucial.
"You
cannot promote a five-star destination like Anguilla without an
airport," he says. "If the only way to get to this island is by boat, I
don't think it would be good for our product."
Regular
ferries between Saint Martin and Anguilla were suspended during the
pandemic but have since resumed. Most tourists arrive on the island by
speed boat from Sint Maarten, having already taken one or often two
flights to get this far.
From the air, passengers see the southwest tip of Anguilla, with the long sandy curve of Maundays Bay.
Nicola Chilton
On
a good day, it's a beautiful trip that takes around 25 minutes by speed
boat, but when the sea is rough, it's a bumpy ride. And Thomas believes
that many of visitors don't want to be "knocked about on a boat on the
rough sea" on the final leg of their journey.
While
the majority of passengers on the air route have typically been
tourists, the pandemic has seen more Anguillians choose to fly, with
special fares for locals available. With fewer touchpoints compared with
the boat -- no minibus transfers between airport and pier, fewer people
coming into contact with your luggage -- it has become a smoother, and
in some respects, more socially distanced option.
But
perhaps the biggest advantage of taking the flight is that the views
are captivating from start to finish. This is as much a scenic flight as
it is an important connection between two islands.
Up and away
Taking
off from Princess Juliana International Airport in Sint Maarten, the
aircraft never flies higher than 1,000 feet, with views of turquoise
Caribbean waters, the long curves of sandy beaches and luxurious private
villas and resorts.
It
doesn't take long to get off the ground. The plane takes off to the
east over Simpson Bay Lagoon, before banking to the left, crossing over
the French side of the island and the narrow strip of land along Rue de
Sandy Ground, heading north to make the short hop across to Anguilla.
Crossing
over the south coast, home to shallow bays with names such as Auntie
Dol, LockRum and Pelican, the plane swoops low over scrubby ground
around Blowing Point, the island's main -- but tiny -- port for boats
from Saint Martin.
Captain Carl Avery Thomas is a pilot and owner of Anguilla Air Services. "Man, I enjoy it," he says.
Jerome Dupont Photography
From
there, it's just a couple more minutes over the salt ponds of Sandy
Ground, famous for its long strip of sand and beach bars such as Elvis'
and Johnno's, and low over the road until the wheels touch down at
Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport, just eight minutes after
departing Sint Maarten.
Beyond
tourism, Thomas' aircraft play another key role that is vital in
supporting this traditionally boating and fishing community.
"We
provide search and rescue services free of charge to the state," he
says. Whenever a fishing boat goes missing, Thomas and his team take to
the air.
"We've
always done it, ever since I started the company," he continues. "It's a
joy when we're on a search and rescue mission and we find someone."
The
aircraft are also involved in medical transportation flights and
evacuations, being the only entity on the island outside of the hospital
with a ventilator. "During Covid, we offer it to the hospital in case
it's needed," says Thomas.
Taking to the skies
Anguilla
may be dotted with some of the Caribbean's top luxury hotels and
exclusive private villas, but this is not a wealthy island.
Coming
from a poor family that lived in a valley at the foot of the runway,
Thomas worked his way through flight training in the US Virgin Islands
to cover his fees, never having flown before heading to school.
"That
was the first time I'd ever sat in an airplane. It was a Britten-Norman
Islander, made on the Isle of Wight in the UK," says Thomas. "I was the
passenger pushed all the way into the back, but it was OK -- I was on
an airplane!"
After graduating flight school in 1988, he returned home to Anguilla.
The flight comes in to land in Sint Maarten over Cupecoy Beach.
Nicola Chilton
"A
lot of my friends went on to fly big jets, but I said, 'No, I'm coming
home.' I just felt that I could help my country. From 1988 up to now,
I'm still here and, man, I enjoy it," he says.
While
aviation in Anguilla may still be small, with a focus on interisland
hops, charters and private jet traffic, more young Anguillians are
moving into the industry, including Thomas' own children.
"I
have a boy and a girl, and they're both in flight school in Florida. I
never encouraged them to fly, I never took them with me, because I
wanted them to choose a career of their own, but both of them are going
to be pilots," he says. "I hope they can continue the legacy."
And
flights to the island are also increasing. In November, Cape Air
launched flights between the US Virgin Islands and Anguilla. And in
December, American Airlines introduced flights from Miami, the only
scheduled direct flights to the island from the US mainland.
In the peak holiday season, the tarmac at Clayton J. Lloyd International becomes a parking lot of private jets.
Whether
Thomas' children choose to follow their father's footsteps and come
back to the island or decide to spread their wings and fly further away
remains to be seen.
But
the eight-minute flight between Anguilla and Sint Maarten will remain
an important link between these two neighboring territories and a vital
part of this small island's aviation heritage.
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