In a region where airline travel has been continually bursting at the seams, the Trinidad and Tobago state-owned airline, Caribbean Airlines is looking to raise its game by leasing a dozen new passenger aircraft to deal with increasing intra-regional passenger demand. A report in the Trinidad Guardian of Tuesday, October 3, says that that the state-owned airline is seeking to meet the increasing demand for travel in the region, ‘head on’ by throwing more resources into ensuring a robust response to the travel needs of the region. Finance Minister Colm Imbert has announced that state-owned Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL) plans to lease 12 new passenger aircraft to deal with increasing demand.
The Guardian report quotes T&T’s Finance Minister Colm Imbert as making the disclosure in his 2024 Budget presentation and positing the exit of LIAT from the intra-regional travel industry as one of the key reasons behind the decision. Imbert also reportedly attributed T&T’s planned new investment in the air travel sector to the increase in international visitors finding their way, for various reasons, to the region. Setting aside the traditional popularity of the Caribbean as a globally favoured tourist destination, the region has become a place of increasing interest for visitors from outside the region. In recent years business travel to the region, and notably to Guyana, has increased significantly following the country’s huge oil discoveries and the worldwide response of potential investors ‘hunting down’ investment opportunities here.
Guyana, particularly, though not exclusively, is likely to be at the forefront of intra-regional air transport demand, going forward. Imbert is quoted in his budget presentation as saying that Caribbean continues to exhibit strong air transport demand. Figures provided by the T&T Finance Minister as saying that since July 2021 international visitors have been increasing, “with arrivals reaching 226,483 in 2022” revitalizing the tourism sector. “This buoyant trend continued into 2023, with visitor arrivals for January-July 2023 recording 182,508,” the October 3, Guardian report says. Imbert is reportedly seeking to have Caribbean Airlines aim to “utilize its assets effectively and establish a foundation for network growth,” the Guardian report says. “The airline thus intends to expand its fleet to meet this growing demand through the lease of four additional ATRs and three additional B 737-8s, bringing the fleet size to a pre-pandemic level. CAL also plans to lease five Embraer E-175 regional jets to service the intra-regional demand and to establish bases and hubs across the region to promote efficiency and cost-reducing measures,” the Guardian report quotes the Minister as saying.
The issue of ‘beefing up’ the region’s air travel capacity has been raised with the Stabroek Business by visitors to the region who point to increased external interest in investment opportunities here as well as an increase in visitor arrivals among Guyanese seeking to ‘reconnect’ with their home country in the wake of its transformation into a potential global petro powerhouse. The October 3 Guardian report says that back in April, Caribbean Airlines made an application to the US Department of Transportation “to operate to the full extent authorized by the Air Transport Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of T&T”. CAL’s operational forecast reportedly made “specific reference to Puerto Rico and St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands as new routes” projected for rapid growth. Passenger travel aside, Imbert also disclosed that “CAL is pursuing cargo operations as an essential revenue source and is leasing 2 ATRs and 2 B 737-800s aircraft to grow and expand its cargo services across the region,” the Guardian report said.
