British Airways has scrapped community fares to its Caribbean destinations in a move that some are saying will 'decimate' travel from the UK to the islands.
Community fares let travellers book a ticket and then pay it off over a period of time, making expensive flights more affordable to destinations such as St Lucia and Dominica.
On Thursday the UK's flag carrier quietly binned the fare option, ending a means of buying tickets that has been hugely popular in certain communities for at least 30 years.
One travel agent who asked not to be named told The Mirror that the many potential customers planning to head to the Caribbean for the 75th Windrush Anniversary on June 22 had now ditched the idea, deeming it to be unaffordable.
They described it as a "hammer blow to the community".
Vincent John, chairman of the Dominic UK Association and Newham African Caribbean Centre, said 80% of people in his community relied on the fares for journeys to their ancestral homes.
Are you affected by the end of community fares? Email as at webtravel@reachplc.com
"If a family of four is travelling with an extremely high fare, now they have no opportunity for deposit," Vincent, who "uses community fares all the time", said.
"It's £6,000 straight from your bank accounts. It decimates the opportunity for families to travel together to see their loved ones, it simply makes the whole situation unviable for communities and people, to maintain the connection.
"Someone has said to me it is tantamount to an immigration policy. It means they will not be able to travel, and it restricts the number of people who can pay the fares."
Community fares have been a fundamental part of travel between the UK and the Caribbean for decades, with many people paying off their tickets over several months by dropping off ten or 20 pounds in cash once a week to their travel agents.
Not only will their demise make trips much harder or simply unaffordable for many, it will likely deal a huge blow to specialist travel agents who ply their trade in specific Caribbean communities in the UK.
The impact on travellers is already being felt, with one family opting to send just one of their members to Dominica for the 45th anniversary of independence later this year rather than all four as planned, according to Vincent.
"I cannot see why people travelling to the Caribbean should be discriminated against," he continued. "Probably 80% of the people who make these journeys are affected. These are working class people.
"Young people need to see role models from their communities in positions of authority of power, it has a major impact on their ambition and motivation."
The only community fares BA will run to the area in the future are to Kingston, Port of Spain, and Grenada.
They are no longer available for trips to:
- Barbados
- Antigua
- St Lucia
- Tobago
- Guyana
- St Kitts
- Any other Caribbean island reached via a Barbados connection
Now Virgin Atlantic is the only firm to operate some community fares to the Caribbean, but it does not run the same routes as BA did.
On the routes where the two companies do overlap, the extra demand for seats on the remaining Virgin flights may push up prices.
People needing to get to Barbados, Antigua, St Lucia, Guyana, Dominica, St Kitts and Tobago are likely to be worst affected.
A spokesperson for British Airways said: "We work closely with our travel agent partners and continue to offer a variety of fares with a range of price points which are designed to suit customers' needs - including fully flexible options.
"In addition, British Airways Holidays also offers customers the option to pay for flights and accommodation or flights and car hire with a low deposit."
