Caribbean Airlines Buys Air Jamaica

(Dive Travel Business News - May 3, 2010) -- As of May 1, 2010, Air Jamaica has been taken over by Caribbean Airlines, the state-owned airline of Trinidad and Tobago. The Trinidadian Government will invest $50 million in the airline and retain Air Jamaica's  seven routes and 1,000 employees.

Caribbean Airlines will continue to fly Air Jamaica’s 140 weekly flights between Montego Bay and Kingston to Baltimore, Fort Lauderdale, New York Kennedy, Philadelphia and Toronto. Caribbean Airlines expects to announce other routes soon. Tickets issued by Air Jamaica before May 1 will be honored, as will frequent-flyer miles. 

During a transition period, which is expected to take between six and 12 months, the company will be called Caribbean Airlines Air Jamaica Transition Ltd. Air Jamaica’s fleet will retain its logo during the transition. The Jamaican Government will have a 16 per cent share in Caribbean Airlines: Air Jamaica will keep its equipment and offices at the airports in Jamaica.

In 2007, the government sold the Kingston-to-London route to Virgin Atlantic, and last year, the airline laid off roughly 500 employees as it eliminated routes to Atlanta, Miami and Los Angeles. The Jamaican government had set a March 2009 deadline to divest Air Jamaica after it accumulated roughly $1.3 billion in debt.

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