Culture & Travel

Air Jamaica Reports Recovery from September 11 and Begins a Tobago and Guyana Campaign

In the wake of the terrible attacks on America and the resulting fallout in world travel, a Caribbean airline says business has been better than originally anticipated.

Air Jamaica marketing executive Allen Chastanet said he believes the carrier will exceed budget for both January and February this year, while advance bookings for March, April, May and June look extremely promising. "The critical question is when do we stop the level of discounting that we are having to do in order to resuscitate this business."

Chairman of Air Jamaica, Dr. Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, speaking to travel agents and industry partners in New Jersey last week, said: "Mr. Bin Laden messed up Air Jamaica much less than most people were affected and we never did fall below a 50 percent load factor (after the terrorist attacks)."

Chastanet, who is the airline’s senior vice president of marketing and sales, noted that several routes were recovering nicely due to a release of "pent up demand" and people were resuming their travel plans despite the recent warm weather in the United States. In particular, loads to the Dutch island of Curaçao from Montego Bay have been steady while business to Barbados is on the increase. Air Jamaica serves Barbados with non-stop flights from New York and via the Montego Bay hub in Jamaica.

Stateside, Boston is registering strong load factors while the airline is optimistic that travel will pick up on the challenging Houston route.

Additionally, Air Jamaica is promoting new connecting services to the island of Tobago and the South American nation of Guyana.

The airline reports that its New York passengers will be able to connect to Tobago and Guyana on its commuter partner, Caribbean Star, at Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados.

Caribbean Star recently began service to Guyana, while Barbados-Tobago service will start in early February.

Said Chastanet: "We are actively working with hoteliers in Tobago to promote this destination in New York. It’s something we had originally initiated with EC Xpress so I am happy we are now able to continue with the programme in collaboration with Caribbean Star."

He admitted that while Air Jamaica cannot compete with other non-stop New York-Guyana services, the Guyana connection would give passengers an opportunity to visit another destination while on their way to or from South America. "There is a strong link between Barbadians and Guyanese and I think this new connection will further strengthen ties between the two communities. It will also increase options for destination-hopping tourists," he said.