Caribbean carriers to form new regional alliance, Caribsky ch-aviation PRO exclusive

Divi Divi Air (DVR, Curacao) and Winair (WM, St. Maarten) have announced they opened a dialogue over increased cooperation between the two Dutch Antillean carriers in the ABC island (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao) and Northern Caribbean markets.

“The goals of these two companies will be how can we provide better services to our mutual customers, lower prices and increase options for our customers capitalizing on each other’s geographical location and extensive route networks," Michael Cleaver, President and CEO of Winair, said.

Winair currently operates a fleet of three DHC-6-300s on scheduled flights linking St. Maarten with Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, St. Kitts & Nevis, the British Virgin Islands, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius & Saba, Curacao, Guadeloupe, Haiti, St Barthélemy, and the Dominican Republic. It is also a founding member of the Caribsky Alliance (with Air Antilles and LIAT) which serves 35 destinations and has a combined fleet of 22 aircraft. Winair also uses ATR42-500 capacity provided to it by Air Antilles on a wet-lease basis.

“Divi Divi...

Bahamasair (UP, Nassau Int'l) is interested in joining the regional Caribsky alliance in order to improve connectivity between the Caribbean islands and reduce the dependence on funnelling traffic through Miami Int'l, the Bahamas Tribune has reported.

"Bahamasair is not a part of Caribsky yet, but we are speaking with the associated airlines to see how we can tie ourselves into it. It doesn't mean that Bahamasair will have to provide any further flights into the Caribbean, but we want to tie ourselves into this to make it work. We want to connect with the Caribbean," managing director Tracey Cooper said.

interCaribbean Airways (JY, Providenciales) also said it was looking at increasing the cooperation between regional airlines and could do so through a membership in Caribsky.

"Co-operation is natural, and so Caribsky is something that is interesting to us and we want to continue that dialogue and create a connected Caribbean," CEO Trevor Sandler said.

Caribsky currently includes LIAT (LI, Antigua), Winair (WM, St. Maarten), and Air...