Tuesday, February 16, 2010

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Air Jamaica drops The Bahamas By Scott Armstrong ~ Guardian Business Editor ~ scott@nasguard.com: Air Jamaica has announced it is to discontinue its services to The Bahamas as the company culls routes across the Caribbean. Earlier this year The Nassau Guardian revealed that the financially-troubled company was considering axing Nassau and now it has confirmed the move. Effective April 12, 2010, Air Jamaica will suspend service completely to Nassau, and in the run up to that the service will be reduced to two weekly flights after March 14. The company is also disbanding its Grenada, Curaçoa and Havana routes. The news also comes days after the Government reportedly signed a non-binding letter of intent with Caribbean Airlines (CAL). It is also cutting a number of US routes. Air Jamaica is carrying a debt burden of US$900 million. "This fleet reduction has become necessary as we seek to meet our financial obligations; however, Air Jamaica continues to be the best choice for convenient schedule and excellent service, as we have ensured that adequate capacity is provided on our core routes," stated Bruce Nobles, CEO and president of the airline. Earlier this month Nobles told The Nassau Guardian: "The Nassau route load factor runs at about the 40 to 50 per- cent range whereas the rest of region is in the 70 percent range. "That doesn't mean it's a bad market, but if you're going to prioritize the use of very big airplanes you want to put it in place where you can fill them up." Thursday February 4, 2010