Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

BVI passengers stuck on aircraft after arriving at ‘closed’ airport

BVI passengers stuck on aircraft after arriving at ‘closed’ airport

At least four senior citizens and a young mother with her suckling infant were among roughly two dozen passengers forced, for more than an hour, to stay inside an aircraft that landed at the Terrance B Lettsome International Airport some minutes after 10 pm Saturday night, November 27.

This was because Customs and Immigration officers stationed at the airport were not present to receive the late-night interCaribbean Airlines flight.

The airline’s late-night flight from the Dominican Republic was actually scheduled to arrive 3:30 pm earlier that day. However, the flight experienced an unexplained delay that lasted for a shocking seven hours. The flight that was scheduled to depart at 2:05 pm never left the Las Américas International Airport in Santo Domingo till minutes after 9 o’clock that night.

Some passengers — among whom were BVI citizens and visitors — were incensed. According to a high-ranking senior official from Her Majesty’s Customs, the airline was told not to land in the BVI at that hour because the airport closes a 9 pm.

Passengers were never told of this reported advisory. And based on the account of passengers on the flight, they were advised while en route to the BVI that the aircraft was going to divert to St Maarten. Some minutes later they received another announcement mid-flight that the aircraft would go to Puerto Rico instead. Not long after, they received a final announcement that the plane would land in its intended destination at Beef Island, BVI.

But when they arrived, no-one was there to receive them. This was later verified by an ancillary airport worker who was heard speaking about what transpired when the officers learnt of the airline’s considerably belated arrival.

“Customs say they not waiting [and] Immigration gone,” the airport worker was heard telling one of the passengers.

Baggage and passports held overnight


BVI News understands that the aircraft was under threat of returning to the skies to transport the passengers over to the neighbouring St Maarten which was reportedly willing to keep them overnight.

But after the long wait onboard the aircraft, restless passengers were told that officers had returned to the airport to process them. They were then ushered to a lounge at the airport where vaccination checks were made.

Following those checks, they proceeded to Immigration where a single worker in the person of Deputy Commissioner of Customs, Clinton Romney, was seen in plain clothes processing passengers.

Passengers were informed that they would not be able to retrieve their checked luggage until today (Sunday, November 28) because of staffing issues. Their passports were also held till that time.

Responding to a Facebook post that highlighted the incident and questioned the government’s running tourism mantra of ‘BVI Love’, Premier Andrew Fahie said there was more to the story. He did not delve into any further detail.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×