A new element to the Stanford 20/20 Tournament was revealed today with the unveiling of a plane branded with the Stanford 20/20 logo. The plane will be used to promote the Tournament around the Caribbean and perhaps fly some of the teams to Antigua come July when the tournament gets underway.
The brand new sleek Bombardier Q300 Dash 8 Model 315 aircraft is the latest addition to the region’s Caribbean Star Airlines fleet. Caribbean Star Airlines and its sister carrier, Caribbean Sun Airlines, are the official airline sponsors of the tournament and will be transporting the teams to and from Antigua.
In a brief ceremony held at the Stanford hangar in Antigua, Caribbean Star and Caribbean Sun Airlines CEO, Skip Barnette – surrounded by eight cricket legends, Antigua government officials and other invited guests – spoke briefly about the plane before it embarked on its inaugural flight with the cricket legends onboard, destined for St. Maarten, the first of ten stops where they will be presenting the remaining Stanford 20/20 countries with their first drawdown of US$100,000. Antigua and Montserrat received their funds in a presentation at the Sticky Wicket earlier that morning and Bermuda, the Bahamas, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands accepted their funds in January.
‘Caribbean Star and Caribbean Sun fly to 18 Caribbean destinations and transport over 80,000 passengers a month, so I think this plane will be a very exciting and effective marketing tool for the Tournament, a great way to get the Stanford 20/20 message out across the region,’ said Allen Stanford who was unable to be at the ceremony or go on the tour due to an important previous commitment [see related story Remaining Stanford 20/20 Countries Receive Their Funds].
The plane, which seats 50 passengers, is the latest and most advanced of the Bombardier Q Series. It is equipped with the Bombardier Noise and Vibration Suppression system (NVS) which offers low noise levels more often found in larger regional jet aircraft, and is the most advanced turbo-prop aircraft operating in the Caribbean today.
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