The billion-dollar ANR Robinson International Airport must open now if Tobago is to expand its tourism sector on the global stage, Tourism Secretary Tashia Burris said during Tobago’s first-ever tourism forum.

While Burris pressed for operationalising the new facility, THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine took aim at Caribbean Airlines for persistent issues affecting the domestic airbridge.

“We have just invested just over $1 billion in a brand-new airport. We need to operationalise that airport whether or not we agree on whether the investment was needed at the time, or whether we had other things to spend that money on. It is here, and we need to take advantage of the opportunities that it presents,” Burris said.