CONTRAILS & CON ARTISTS: THE AIRLINE THAT NEVER WAS

What Happened to BVI Airways’ “Missing” Planes?

When BVI Airways’ promised Miami service failed to launch, taxpayers were left with a $7.2 million question and uncertainty about the two aircraft intended to deliver it.

The impression was that the planes had disappeared and the government was bamboozled. In reality, VP-LWW and VP-LOS continued their journeys overseas under new registrations. Their whereabouts were always traceable, even as questions remained about the National Democratic Party government’s handling of the venture.

The Promise and the Collapse

BVI Airways was established in 2009 and began regional scheduled services in May 2010. A privately owned business, it initially connected the territory with neighbouring Caribbean destinations using small Jetstream turboprop aircraft.

In March 2014, the airline changed ownership, with Jerry Willoughby leading plans to expand its fleet and reach. That transition eventually shifted the company’s focus toward a much larger undertaking.

In December 2015, the NDP administration, led by Premier Dr. D. Orlando Smith, entered into an agreement with BVI Airways supporting a proposed Miami service. Publicly announced in January 2016 the arrangement initially involved $7 million, with total government funding eventually reaching $7.2 million.

Two Avro RJ100 jets—VP-LWW, serial number E3274, and VP-LOS, serial number E3282—were selected for the Miami route. The airline’s US regulatory application listed both as leased aircraft, and BVI Airways highlighted their short-runway capability as a reason they were suitable for Beef Island. The scheduled service was expected to begin by October 31, 2016. It never did.

The aircraft did undertake limited charter flying. The Auditor General’s report records a flight carrying the territory’s athletics team to Curaçao, while contemporary reporting traced VP-LWW operating between Haiti and Cuba under a reported arrangement with Sunrise Airways. Neither delivered the scheduled BVI–Miami connection government had supported.

By July 2017, the project had reached a financial breaking point and on July 18, BVI Airways announced that it was laying off its pilots and flight attendants stating regulatory delays and pre-launch expenses had depleted its cash reserves.

What Did Government Know?

The available evidence does not establish that the aircraft were moved entirely without government’s knowledge. The Auditor General recorded that government received information in May 2017 about plans to sell or lease the planes. The Premier subsequently issued a formal warning reminding the operators of their contractual obligations.

What the report does establish is that government struggled to obtain basic information. Requests concerning aircraft ownership, company finances and the operators’ investment encountered resistance, while required quarterly financial statements were never supplied.

That lack of transparency helps explain the uncertainty surrounding the aircraft. But the breakdown in communication did not mean the jets had vanished.

Where the Planes Went

VP-LWW headed to Summerside, Canada, in August 2017. It briefly carried the registration T7-LWW before becoming VH-JTE in December 2018 and operating in Australia for National Jet Express under the Cobham Aviation brand. It later joined Canada’s Summit Air as C-FRJY.

Canadian Transportation Safety Board records independently confirm that C-FRJY is the same aircraft, serial number E3274, and flight-tracking records show Summit Air flights in October 2026.

VP-LOS became N479NA with US-based Neptune Aviation Services in February 2018. Following recorded periods of storage in Montana and Canada, it transferred to Chile’s Aerovías DAP in December 2022 as CC-DHU. Fleet and tracking records continued to associate it with that airline in 2026.

Both aircraft had therefore acquired new identities and operators beyond BVI Airways.

Possible Deception, Documented Failures

Whether government was deliberately scammed is a separate question from whether it adequately protected taxpayers. The audit findings provide substantial grounds for criticism of the NDP administration’s due diligence and oversight.

It was later reported the Auditor General found that government had not secured adequate evidence of the operators’ ability to supply the additional private financing the venture required. The report also criticised the financial records provided and identified weaknesses in the agreement and oversight.

The Auditor General found no evidence that Cabinet’s requirement for further financial scrutiny had been fulfilled. The report also recorded that $2 million held in escrow was released early, before flight operations began and without Cabinet approval.

Even if the operators misled government, the administration remained responsible for checking its business partners and securing safeguards before advancing public funds.

Finding the planes does not account for the money. The airline’s US regulatory application listed both jets as leased; government’s financial contribution should not be confused with ownership of the aircraft.

The jets did not disappear without a trace. They found new operators overseas, while the Virgin Islands was left without the Miami service its $7.2 million commitment was intended to secure.