Business
REDjet to start Jamaica flights in October
There will be no summer flights as regional travellers were hoping.
Barbados-based budget carrier REDjet has received the official approval it was waiting for to add Jamaica to its list of destinations but regional travellers hoping to take advantage of low fares to Kingston won’t get the chance this summer.
CEO Ian Burns says flights are likely to begin in October.
REDjet this week launched its Barbados-Trinidad route after getting the green light from aviation authorities in Port of Spain and although Jamaica followed suit, the airline was waiting for the final word.
“REDjet has received official confirmation from the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority that it has been cleared to begin operating into and out of the island,” said a statement from the airline yesterday. “REDjet will soon issue a detailed schedule and provide information on booking and payment facilities.”
Burns added that, “coming on the heels of permission to fly to Trinidad, we at REDjet are thrilled, not only because we are making significant strides as an airline but, more so, we are thrilled that over the coming weeks, we will be able to offer our services to Jamaicans”.
He further expressed thanks to Transport and Works Minister Mike Henry for granting the necessary approvals and being a catalyst to bringing change to airlift in Jamaica.
REDjet currently operates flights between Barbados and Guyana.
When it begins flying to Jamaica, service will be to and from Barbados and Trinidad, according to the airline’s website.
The Trinidad flights, which begin next Thursday, will initially be to and from Barbados, but a statement issued by the Guyana Government yesterday said: “REDjet will commence flying from Barbados to Trinidad and Trinidad to Georgetown, by September latest, as certain formalities have to be processed”.
It said REDjet has helped reverse “the apparent pricing discrimination against Guyanese by Caribbean Airlines (CAL)”.
“The current dispensation has Guyanese travellers paying as much to get to Trinidad as Trinidad travellers are paying to get to New York, a situation that is very perverse,” said Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon at a post-Cabinet briefing yesterday.
Guyanese have welcomed REDjet with open arms and the airline’s CEO says the route has been performing very well.
