Residents, tourists treated poorly at main airport — Skelton Cline
Honestly Speaking talk show host Claude Skelton Cline said residents and visitors are being subjected to unnecessary treatment at the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport.
He said he witnessed tourists being told they could only carry one resealable plastic bag containing toiletries, with one woman reportedly forced to leave the security line because “the Ziploc bag she had was too big,” even though all the liquids inside were three ounces or less.
“My God. They got a line spinning around the place because only one machine is working,” he said, questioning how long the second screening machine has been out of service.
Skelton Cline also claimed he watched another female passenger undergo repeated pat-downs before additional screening found nothing suspicious. He said his own carry-on bag was emptied after security officers detected an unidentified item that ultimately turned out to be deodorant.
While stressing that his criticism was not directed at frontline staff, he said, “This ain’t for you. You’re just doing your job.” Instead, he blamed airport leadership, arguing, “Those of you who are in charge… we’ve got to stop putting locals and guests through this stuff.”
He added that his experience at airports abroad was markedly different. “I go through airports all the time,” he said, noting that passengers move quickly through security while maintaining the same safety standards.
National airline needed
In the meantime, Skelton Cline argued that the BVI should revisit the idea of establishing a national airline, saying reliable regional airlift is critical to the territory’s future.
Describing LIAT as “a royal waste of time,” he claimed passengers are often left waiting “from two to six hours” without updates from airline staff. “If I was in charge, I would ban LIAT from coming here,” he said.
Although acknowledging the failed BVI Airways project, which later turned into a financial scandal, Skelton Cline said, “That does not mean that we should forego pursuing some kind of Virgin Islands Airways,” adding that government should seek partnerships with wealthy belongers to create a dependable regional carrier.
He also urged travellers: “If you’re going fly, fly Winair for God’s sake.”
Copyright 2026 BVI News, Media Expressions Limited. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.
Thats what you get wheb yiu have a Ministry that refuses to add people to or change the board.
Thank god people are finally waking up to the fact that these boads are a major part of the gridlok in this Territory . A system must be put in place to remove them for in action at the discretion of the Premier. Same for Permanant Secretaries, they knoe it is difficult to be removed and therefore they dont even respect and pay attention or execute the agenda of the Ministers
Th we problem also is the security officers there are 95 % exapat and they don’t care if Tortola sinks or floats . Why can we employ those kids out of school to do that job so they can help their parents pay rent and buy groceries
Not our Ronnie though. He saved himself from all this a long time ago.
https://bvinews.com/not-right-skelton-upset-over-airport-security-checks/
I get annoyed with what is happening to us officials (money grabbin, greedy elite poiticians) when we travel through the airport, Skelton said in the House of Assembly.
Not really trying to solve the problem for the people!!!!!
But he be all right.
This happened to me recently as well: the machine went off and they said they detected something in my bag
Then officer took my cloths out of the bag, he didn’t search it with a level of dignity, he took personal effects out as well and placed them on the conveyor belt…
I was like, this is unreal!
This place is trending downwards at every corner, nothing seems to be done right.
They do not even have any clear bags to hand out so you are expected to know to have your own. Generally an unpleasant experience arriving and leaving the Territory.
The big tattoo bleach one who does enviromental/customs is a real hog.How these ppl qualify!?She needs to fix up.
a total disgrace when entering and leaving this territory
What you are experiencing is the effects of the leadership we have at the highest level. It blows my mind that the Premier, Kye, Fraser, Luce, Karl and Lorna drive on the same roads that we do and occupy this same BVI that we do and there is no sense of urgency to getting it fixed. The place just looks downright terrible and nasty. I have guests coming and I am embarrassed for them to see us like this. And it has been going on for so long. Who is going to clean this mess up? The VIP has shown that they can’t so VIP must go!!
The people that are doing that job have a stinking attitude and couldn’t care less about the BVI. When it comes to international comedy corner touch down in BVI. Once the elected reps’ get to lord it over other black people and their salary and pension is in order its party time and no one should be complaining.
This was done to me when I entered St. Kitts in transit to BVI. I was told my zip lock bag was too big and I was only allowed 1 ziplock bag.
This is normal in most airports around the world and its keeping us safe. There are clear Guide lines given by international safety bureau on how airports and security work. Its normal that Mr Cline things the laws dont apply to him.
The airport is just being compliant with international regulations as we fly direct to the USA now they have drills at the airport like active shooting and crashed planes. It these drills are not carried out the planes will not be allowed to land as they are not acreddited.
Brown colored folk are treated badly at the airport. Not Becky and her family. They breeze by without delay. Typical BVI treatment. Shame on the Territory for promoting this.
Glad he raised this issue. Before talking about international airport, talk about the immense additional training required. When they put one under additional screening, questioning and seemingly aggressive behaviour just to find books in a luggage. Legal ones at that. They changed their attitude very quickly. I travelled to other international destinations afterward and no one put me under any additional scrutiny for carrying books! Is the machine they using different from the international standard? Is there no special colour differentiation in the scan image to distinguish between a book and drugs??? Are they just going by shapes? But then what drug shape does a deodorant resemble? Don’t talk about arrivals. Is it still the old single belt and does the place still look like a shanty town in that area? They need to be trained in international airports to get an international mindset and also learn how to operate international equipment before looking into an international airport. Evolution clearly cannot and does not exist.
What i experience last Monday at the ferry dock arriving on the 3pm ferry, one customs office to clear baggages and like he more vex than anyone else… why have people who can smile with you return home or even coming to visit… shame…