(Trinidad Guardian) Almost five years after first announcing its intention to fly between Trinidad and Puerto Rico, Caribbean Airlines (CAL) operated its first flight to San Juan on Sunday. BW290, operated by one of CAL’s ATR72-600s, departed Piarco International at 10:55 am bound for the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport.
Minutes before the flight took off, Caribbean Airlines CEO Garvin Medera told the 60 passengers and specially invited guests gathered at Gate 1 that the new route would meet the needs of everyone. “Puerto Rico boasts the largest mall in the Caribbean, an exciting destination for those who love shopping. Beyond shopping, this route also presents opportunities for student exchanges, sporting competitions, cruise connections, and much more,” he said.
He also teased some of CAL’s upcoming routes saying “our expansion into Puerto Rico and very soon the French Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe and the British Virgin Islands – Tortola underscores our mission to be the airline of choice.”
Medera first announced the carrier’s intention to serve the French West Indies, starting with Martinique at the ACI Airport Day held in Trinidad last year. In that announcement, a start date of 4th quarter 2023 was given, however the route is yet to be launched. No reason for the delay has been given. CAL’s Guadeloupe route is also expected to begin later this year.
Service to destination Puerto Rico is part of a series of plans for regional expansion, several of which had to be put on hold when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. For Jan Fernandez Toledo, a Puerto Rican artist turned organic farmer who has called Canaan, Tobago home since 2003, the delay was devastating. “My dad died a few days before the closing of the airport because of COVID and I could not hug my family for a year and a half,” she says.
Almost 4 years later, this inaugural flight couldn’t come soon enough for her. Flying from Tobago to Puerto Rico was once a 24 hour affair, involving an overnight stay in Trinidad and then a combination of planes and taxis to get to her family in Old San Juan – a journey that cost her up to US$1,500. “I cried when I read the news,” she tells Guardian Media. “The day it was announced, I went straight to the airport in Tobago and bought my ticket for the maiden flight,” she added.
