Piarco, Trinidad and Tobago W.I. – In a historic development Caribbean Airlines has been granted authority from the United States Department of Transportation to operate Jamaica/US routes.
This approval means that Caribbean Airlines is close to being able to officially operate flights from Jamaica directly to the United States in Caribbean Airlines aircraft using the Caribbean Airlines Air Operators certificates, or the familiar “BW” code.
The move is a natural progression for the airline following its acquisition of Air Jamaica operations in May 2010. The major hubs of the Caribbean are now open both in the north via Jamaica, and in the south from Trinidad. The airline is excited about the prospects for the approval since operating from Jamaica to the United States has been the major priority in the last year for the Caribbean Airlines team. After what has been a lengthy process, Caribbean Airlines utilised its internal resources to fulfil the rigorous regulatory and legal requirements needed for the application. Two routes which were part of a secondary medium to long term strategy for Caribbean Airlines were not granted to the Trinidadian carrier – Barbados/Ft. Lauderdale and St. Lucia/New York.
The authorisation given to Caribbean Airlines by the United States authorities for the operation of flights from Jamaica to the United States certifies the importance of Caribbean Airlines into the Caribbean region. Caribbean Airlines continues its network growth to be the preferred carrier of choice for customers in the Caribbean. The airline exceeds industry benchmarks and recorded a system wide on time performance of 91% for 2010. For the Carnival period, the airline will be increasing the frequency of its domestic, regional and international flights to accommodate the high number of visitors coming to Trinidad and Tobago in the coming weeks.
