(Trinidad Express) Don’t expect national carrier Caribbean Airlines (CAL) to turn a profit within the next 24 months.
That’s the word from airline chairman Rabindra Moonan.
In an interview with the Sunday Express on Saturday, Moonan said the airline had embarked on several initiatives to rationalise assets and turn CAL into a more efficient operation.
Even so, it will be a while before the airline can become a profitable enterprise.
“Caribbean Airlines is at present not performing above the line, but there are many reasons for this situation—funding for the ATR fleet and wet leases to adequately satisfy the demands of the traffic throughout the system are just two instances which have impacted the bottom line. Rest assured, however, that everything is being done to reverse the situation in the shortest possible timeframe,” he told the Sunday Express.
A few months ago, CAL faced what was described as “operational risk” in the face of mounting debt.
On May 4, former finance minister Winston Dookeran disclosed to Parliament that the airline made an unaudited loss of US$52.8 million (TT$339.5 million) for 2011 while subsidiary Air Jamaica recorded an unaudited loss of US$38.1 million (TT$245.2 million) for 2011.
The Sunday Express had also reported exclusively that CAL’s liabilities was about US$100 million, the majority of which was owed to France’s Aviones de Transport Regional (ATR).
Moonan said the airline was meeting its financial obligations with regard to fees to airports, its fuel bill, and it had not defaulted on any obligations.
“We are using any line or length of credit that is available to us. We also have to keep in mind the purpose of the airline, which is to bring people of the region into the country. Now, that money is not reflected in the balance books of CAL, but it would impact on the GDP of the country,” he said.
