(Trinidad Express) State carrier Caribbean Airlines says it has transported an additional 5,000 passengers who were affected by Hurricane Irene.
“Further to Hurricane Irene which affected New York operations from August 27-28, Caribbean Airlines wishes to report that the airline has successfully transported an additional 5,000 passengers who were affected by the closure of JFK International Airport during that time,” the airline said in a statement yesterday.
This closure of JFK International Airport caused the cancellation of 34 Caribbean Airlines and Air Jamaica flights over those two days.
In the past four days, the majority of Caribbean Airlines and Air Jamaica customers who were scheduled to travel to and from New York during August 27-28 have been accommodated, the airline said.
Passengers were moved to and from New York from major Caribbean locations such as Kingston, Georgetown and Port of Spain.
“The airline also wishes to advise that the remaining passengers affected from the cancellations will be accommodated on a specially chartered service scheduled to operate from Georgetown, Guyana. These 160 passengers will be transported,” today, CAL said.
Additional aircraft were leased throughout the entire four-day period to assist in the effort of moving the backlog of passengers to and from New York, and both Caribbean Airlines and Air Jamaica continued to operate their regularly scheduled services in the midst of a summer super peak.
Customers complained in New York that they were stranded at the airport for hours earlier this week.
“Caribbean Airlines understands the inconvenience experienced by customers during this past week, and despite the restrictions and pending approvals from authorities, worked with the resources at hand to be able to clear the backlog which was spread throughout its operation,” the airline said yesterday.
