Oct. 8, 2003 Two seeming competitors have joined forces to make transportation a little bit more accommodating for Virgin Islanders and others who travel between St. Croix and St. Thomas.
Seaborne Airlines and V.I. Fast Ferry have announced they will offer an excursion package between St. Thomas and St. Croix that will allow passengers to travel early in the day with Seaborne and return later than the seaplanes fly by taking the 600-passenger ferry Salacia. The Super Sea & Sky excursion, which will start when the Salacia returns to V.I. waters in November, will "offer customers the ability to experience a high-quality seaplane and fast ferry trip all in one journey," Omer ErSelcuk, Seaborne's chief marketing officer, said Wednesday.
Here's how it works, according to ErSelcuk: "If a customer on St. Croix wants to spend two full days on St. Thomas, he or she can fly Seaborne and be on St. Thomas by 7 a.m. on Saturday and stay until 8 p.m. on Sunday by taking the Salacia back home."
And it works both ways. "St. Thomians wishing to spend more time on St. Croix can get to the big island sooner by flying the seaplane and stay longer by taking the ferry on their return," ErSelcuk said.
Kevin Matthews, V.I. Fast Ferry's director of operations, said his company sees Super Sea & Sky "as a great opportunity to offer the people of St. Croix and St. Thomas the best of both worlds."
Neither official said what the excursion rate would be, but according to a release issued by both, "The Super Sea & Sky will offer significant savings over standard Seaborne and Virgin Islands Fast Ferry one-way rates." It added that "further details will be released prior to Virgin Islands Fast Ferry's start of service in November."
While both Seaborne and the V.I. Fast Ferry expect to benefit from an increase in travel, "the real winners in the long run will be the people and businesses of the U.S. Virgin Islands," ErSelcuk said.
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