Each time a plane goes up and down there are very real costs. The list is very long starting with taxes and fees, then fuel to climb , then the time cost of the labor and the depreciating hull. Direct flights are the only possible path to sustainable lower cost fares and sustainable lower total cost of transportation. The ATR's are expensive to operate per passenger mile on top of that. The cost to operate ATR's and short hop flights in general are the primary reason the professionally run and managed major airlines have dumped them. At the end of the day if you cannot get the costs below 9 cents per passenger mile you will fail in the airline industry. The exception would be a route where you have a near monopoly and passengers who are not concerned with costs.

The distance between SJU and EIS is +/-95 miles the competitive major carrier runs on revenue of +/- 12 cents per seat mile or $10 to $15 per passenger to fly that distance. The future of the BVI hospitality market is dependent on cutting out SJU and STT. Both add hours each way, risk each way, and costs above $100 each way. Sometimes the costs are much more in time lost and money.