British West Indian Airlines, also known as BWIA, also known as BWee, are an airline operating out of the West Indies serving 21 destinations, including London, Toronto, New York, Barbados and Caracas. They operate a daily flight between London Heathrow and Trinidad.

They also run domestic routes within the Caribbean, but only a limited service here, like in between the main islands - Antigua and Barbados. They do have a reasonably large fleet, sporting an all-new livery, but I'm afraid I can't find out how many 'planes they have.

Ordering Tickets...

BWee now have a new e-reservation system on the internet called EBooking. This makes buying tickets much easier. So their great prices are now easier to get to! BWee is cheap, and you'll find plenty of special offers on their site, so keep your eyes peeled!

INTERNATIONAL ROUTES

The main idea of BWIA is to be a kind of feeder to all the domestic Caribbean airlines. The intention is to kind of bring in the passengers from all over the world and then once they're in the area, pack them all off in to turboprops to their final destination!

You'll find BWee has lots of alliances with other companies. For example, if you book a flight with BWee and it's domestic, there's a good chance it will be operated by Liat, another small company. But now, I need to tell you more about BWee International.

Before Departure...

When you arrive at Heathrow (Terminal Three for BWee), you will be greeted by the friendly smiles of the BWee staff. They take your bags and send them off to the plane while you wander round the airport buying duty free and dreaming of Pina Colada.

You clear immigration and perhaps have a bite to eat in the overpriced food restaurants. But I'm not criticising BWee for this, just saying it's expensive, OK? So after a while your flight is announced and you make your way over to the departure gate.

You look through the window and you see a brightly-coloured plane sitting on the tarmac. It's painted a nice bright green and silver, with a huge Caribbean drum covering the area of the tail! And you really just can't wait to be sitting on that beach with the warm golden sand, but then...

"Ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately BWIA flight 900 to Trinidad has been delayed by three hours owing to technical problems beyond our control. Please visit gate three to collect a special food voucher. BWee apologise for any inconvenience caused."

Well, I suppose that's what you get when you operate a dated fleet of blimmin tri-stars! I don't know when BWee last ordered, or took delivery of some new planes, but I can tell you that their newest one was made by McDonnell Douglas which no longer exist.

Boarding...

After the wait, they finally fix the plane, and you begin to board the plane, which according to their website should be an L15, whatever that means (any suggestions let me know!). If you're not in business class, then you'll probably be more comfortable walking.

Or at least that's what I think. Being 2 metres tall (6'7") is not easy you know! Well, the smiling staff will help you find your seat and sit you down, and also help you with your bags and put them in the overhead lockers for you.

Once you have finally wedged yourself in to the seat, the safety video will begin, and you can sit back and enjoy the on-ground entertainment. Very interesting, I know. You then realise you're not looking forward to the journey ahead in that oh-so-comfy foamy chair.

Inside the plane...

Well, if you're slightly bigger than average, you're going to have trouble getting around. Sit in your seat, and stay put. You'll find plenty of toilets on board, although.. ..well.. ..visiting one might just put you of your lunch. Just a little bit.

You should expect a meal on this flight - law says that on all flights over two hours a meal must be served, otherwise your passengers will end up very hungry! Fortunately the London-Trinidad service is a nightflight, so you'll be able to sleep, and not have to eat so much delectable food!

Law requires the staff to spray the cabin with a special mixture on arriving at both London and Trinidad. I just want to say that this will not harm you - it just kills bacteria and other harmful insects which could damage the country's food chain.

Take-Off...

Strangely, all West Indians seem to be very talented pilots, they can all take off very well and keep going smoothly throughout the flight. I haven't yet made a flight where either the take-off or landing have been poor. If only they would be rewarded with a new plane to drive!

The lights are dimmed so you can see all the lights along the runway. I know this is standard procedure but I always think it's really beautiful. It sort of sets the mood. And then they have to switch the lights back on and start doing the bad bit... food.

"In Flight Entertainment"...

BWee haven't yet discovered interactive entertainment. Instead, there's a huge screen, of which not one person can see a square inch, at the front of the cabin. You get given headphones but it's not worth the effort craning your neck to watch an ancient episode of 2.4 Children.

You'll also find a pre-recorded radio tape which lasts about half an hour, and then repeats. Passengers will notice it's incredibly fuzzy and you can't hear half the songs. So you get out the In-Flight magazine, which looks more boring than the programme.

What you will find in the magazine, though, is the Duty Free guide. They do have a good selection of Duty Free items available on board, and they do do the royal trolley procession a few times during the flight. If you really want something, though, get off yer bum and ask the crew!

"Plane-Sickness"...

Also known as food. I would say that if you had to pay 50p to get rid of every unwanted meal, BWee would be first to go bankrupt. And here's some inside information - Each Business Class meal is worth a whopping £5.00! And Econonomy? A measly £2.67!

I don't know how airlines manage to make meals so disgusting, but this is where the award gets won - they really are absolutely disgusting! Well, you might just be able to force yourself to eat the bread and perhaps a can of coke. Oh, and you know meat is left to defrost with cockroaches!

The best thing to do really is to lie down, relax and try and get some sleep. That way, you'll be able to make the best of your first day in Trinidad, because you do actually arrive quite early in the morning to make a decent day out of it.

Landing...

After a long seven hours, it all comes to an end. Your plane throttles along the runway going right up close to the sea (yes, just like in Barbados, the runway goes out to sea). You move towards the ramp and the experience is nearly over. Just another hour flight left.

DOMESTIC ROUTES

BWee do fly a reasonable domestic netowrk, serving about ten destinations with their turboprops. These are not the most comfortable planes, but are tolerable considering the short duration of all their domestic flights within the islands.

Punctuality...

BWee domestic is normally on time - I haven't experienced any delays myself. They do mostly get delayed when the aircraft break down, though, because their fleet is ageing fast, and not of the most modern in the universe.

Inside the plane...

All BWee's turboprops have 2:1 seating. This means that there are three people in a row. The planes are small and pretty uncomfortable, and the seats... well like on the international routes except much, much smaller. Oh, and there's a bit more foam for extra discomfort.

Meals...

The domestic meals, I must admit, are actually quite good. Although they didn't seem to have any trollies on one flight I went on - the stewardess was carrying a sandwich for each passenger - all the meals for a two hour flight. And she dropped them. Every single one came out its box!

In-Flight Entertainment...

Just like on the international routes, domestic flights have non-existant in flight entertainment. I suppose it would be pointless on such a short flight - all that effort giving out headphones to have to go and pick them back up again.

Safety...

I'm going to give this a special mention because BWee pride themselves in their safety record. They have had next to no crashes, if any, and they really are good at keeping their planes in the air, which is very reassuring to know!

Summed Up...

BWee are a pretty good airline offering a cheap service. They do the basics - get you from A to B but there's scope for improvement on their international flights. Domestic is pretty good - probably amongst the best in the Caribbean.