MARIGOT--Ten St. Martin students will be arriving at the Grand Case airport this Monday morning, having been stuck in Canada since the restriction on international flights and lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 10 are among 25 St. Martin students identified in Canada as waiting to come home. Thanks to the charter of an Air Caraïbes plane arranged by the governments of St. Martin, Guadeloupe, Martinique and St. Barths, some 300 students will be repatriated on this flight. Many students have been experiencing difficulties on Canadian soil.
The Air Caraïbes flight was due to take off from Montreal, Quebec, on Saturday, June 6, for a scheduled arrival at Guadeloupe’s Pointe-à- Pitre airport at 5:30pm. The St. Martin students were informed at the beginning of the week of the possibility of being able to take advantage of this return flight on Saturday.
Due to the short deadline only half of the students were able to get organised to leave Canada this Saturday and join their families in St. Martin on Monday. The remainder will travel back later.
“It was important to us to ease as much as possible the financial and psychological difficulties encountered by many of our young people during this health crisis, from being far away from their loved ones,” the Collectivité stated.
In the absence of a flight on Sunday, the students will fly to St. Martin on Monday morning.
President of the Collectivité Daniel Gibbs thanked President of the Guadeloupe Region Ary Chalus for this regional partnership for the benefit of the students. Gibbs will be present to welcome the students at L’Espérance Airport in Grand Case this morning.
The students will have to follow the 14-day quarantine rule on their arrival in St Martin. Parents are asked to ensure that this is strictly followed.
