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Falkland Islands: 'Penguin News' weekly update

Falklands' Executive Council will consider MoD new airbridge proposal next week

Headlines:
New and improved airbridge? Government pushes for a service which aids economic growth; Nordnorge leads the way; Badminton team go for it in Greenland; Come on England!; Today's listings – today.

New and improved airbridge?Government pushes for a service which aids economic growthFLIGHTS between the UK and the Falklands are set to improve following government discussions with the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Control of seats available to civilian passengers will be in the hands of the government - and the number of seats available will be flexible. Councillor Summers attended talks with the MoD in London last week. He commented: "The MoD has proposed - and this will be considered by Executive Council next week - that they will sell to the government a number of seats according to our demand. We will then sell them on to our customers. The number of seats will be variable, according to our perception of the demand." The move is part of renegotiations between the government and MoD on the Joint Position Statement which covers the operation of the airbridge. The Joint Position Statement is out of date, having been written in the mid-1980s, but this is not the only reason it needs reviewing, Cllr Summers said. "It has been our ambition for some while to try and improve the quality and deliverability on the airbridge because, as part of a broader strategy, we believe it is necessary to strengthen the capability and the expandability of the airbridge to take care of potentially all the Falkland Islands' economic requirements." The reason for this is obvious, he said: "It becomes more and more impossible to see that there will be expansion of flights East and West (from and to South America), there is no sign of any movement on charter flights or the prospect of a second flight to Santiago, and there is no prospect of our discussing scheduled flights with the Argentines in the current climate. "If we take that as a given, how are we going to manage the development needs that we have for business in general, for tourism in particular, and the potential of oil exploration again next year?" In addition to having greater control of seat allocation, the government will also have the option of calling up a fourth flight every two weeks - at the moment the airbridge only services the Falklands three times a fortnight. Cllr Summers commented: "Provided the government is willing to pay for it, the MoD says it is happy to provide it. That gives us something very positive to look at or to look forward to, particularly in terms of hydrocarbons drilling next year and whatever might happen after that." The increased involvement of the government in the operation of the airbridge carries with it a level of risk; however Cllr Summers said it is significantly less than the level of risk the government was prepared to take on the establishment of the Lan flight. He commented: "It means we are effectively a party to charter contract and its administration and gives us a lot more visibility in terms of how the thing operates." This is a time of considerable change, he believes, not only in the approach to the way the Joint Position Statement is written but also in the way the government works with the MoD. He hopes others will get on board: "There is very significant potential for the tourism industry and others to get involved in this new approach by perhaps sharing the risk with the government by buying seats well in advance that are then guaranteed." Looking into the future, Cllr Summers revealed that, if the agreement works well, there could be an opportunity for a fully commercial operation - "leaving the MoD to do their own thing" - a prospect he believed the MoD found attractive. The current contract for the operation of the airbridge is due to end in September 2008. The government will have a say in the tender process for the next contract, and therefore needs to discuss the Joint Position Statement review as a matter of urgency with a view to it being in place early next year, Cllr Summers said. Nordnorge leads the wayTHE first cruise ship of the season arrives in the Islands this weekend. Nordnorgewill carry her 350 passengers to West Point Island and New Island tomorrow (Saturday). She will head to Stanley on Sunday. Badminton team go for it in GreenlandTHE Falkland Islands team have had mixed results so far in the Island Games Badminton competition in Greenland. The team played their first matches on Wednesday, losing 3 – 2 to Greenland in the team event, and were defeated by the same score against Gotland. Coach Rebecca Pantaney played both women's singles and won. She then teamed up with Lynn Brownlee in the doubles, winning one match and then had a walkover in one game as the Gotland team could only provide one player. Chris Eynon and Michael Brownlee both played decent matches but ended up losing to Greenland and then gave Gotland a scare, only losing 20.17 and 21.10. The individual and singles games are due to start today. FIRS Come on England!SPORTS fans can watch tomorrow's Rugby World Cup final live on television. The England v South Africa match will be shown on BFBS 1 - coverage starts at 3.45pm. Today's listings – todayREADERS may notice a change in the Penguin Newstelevision, radio and event listings. From now on our listings will begin on the Friday of publication instead of the Saturday - no more looking for last week's edition when you want to find the TV listings on a Friday!