InterCaribbean Airways was yesterday scheduled to start offering flights originating from Kingston to Port-au-Prince, Haiti as part of its move to cross-link the Caribbean.
It’s the latest company to announce plans to fill vacant slots from inoperative airlines.
The carrier, in a news release Friday, said it was set to begin scheduled services yesterday between Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica and Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and also Port-au-Prince to Santo Domingo International Airport.
“With high hopes for this service, the business and leisure traveller will be able to enjoy this new service in just an hour of travel time,” added the release.
InterCaribbean stated that bookings are currently available. Checks by the Jamaica Observer found quotes of roughly US$260 plus US$60 taxes one-way from Kingston to Port-au-Prince.
“We are pleased to offer these new routes to give more choices and more connectivity across the Caribbean and support Haiti as it grows its appeal to the vacation visitor, while facilitating new business opportunities. We look forward to increasing the frequency and number of destinations we serve in the new year,” the news release quoted the regional carrier’s CEO Trevor Sadler.
InterCaribbean added that “these new services will extend the travel options for the visitors to neighbouring islands as an easy means to travel to Haiti and extend their vacation stays”.
The airline, formerly Air Turks & Caicos, received an injection of capital, a new business model and updated colourful livery on its planes earlier this year.
Jamaica Air Shuttle and Skylan Air in recent times offered similar service but are now inoperative.
InterCaribbean founder and chairman Lyndon Gardiner previously told the Jamaica Observer that his airline can remain operative by synchronising connectivity to passengers coming from the UK and US on other airlines.
Gardiner, a former banker, started the company in his 20s financed by loans to initially secure his pilot’s licence. He eventually secured another loan to finance the acquisition of a Cessna Skyhawk, which he used to offer chartered services before expanding to scheduled international services.
In February 2014, InterCaribbean announced plans to connect Jamaica with the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. It is rare for airlines to connect the Anglophone, Francophone and Latin Caribbean due to cultural and economic barriers. The new service will, however, avoid the circuitous travel via Miami, USA or Panama on legacy carriers.
In that same month, InterCaribbean also announced plans to offer cross-country flights within Jamaica.
Based in the Turks & Caicos Islands, the carrier has been operating for 23 years. It has a fleet of six turboprop aircraft with another six in various stages of maintenance. It connects the Turks & Caicos to the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. It plans to offer flights to the Eastern Caribbean as its next expansion drive.
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InterCaribbean Airways makes next move to cross-link Caribbean
