Caribbean Airlines (BW, Port of Spain) is planning to add new turboprop aircraft later this year and base them out of Kingston Norman Manley to serve regional destinations in the Caribbean, the carrier's chief executive officer Garvin Madera told the Jamaica Observer.
"The regional hub in Kingston is coming. That is our clear vision for the airline, where Jamaica is our first point of expansion in the Caribbean," Madera said.
The airline already bases five aircraft in Kingston and is the second-largest carrier at the Jamaican gateway. According to the ch-aviation capacity module, it has a 22.5% market share by capacity and offers 28 weekly scheduled departures. However, they are all operated with B737-800 twinjets. More than half of the airline's weekly capacity from Kingston is to the United States and Canada. In the Caribbean, it flies from the Jamaican hub to Antigua, Bridgetown, St. Maarten, Port of Spain, and Nassau International.
Madera said that the airline will look to boost regional connectivity using turboprops, which it currently does not base out of Kingston.
Caribbean Airlines is considering both increasing the fleet of ATR72-600s, of which it already operates five, or adding Dash 8-400s which would give it more range.
Madera clarified that the turboprop hub in Kingston could launch in the third quarter of 2019.
Currently, the airline bases all five ATR - Avions de Transport Régional turboprops out of Port of Spain and deploys them on shuttle flights to Tobago, as well as regionally to Bridgetown, Caracas Simón Bolivar, Grenada, St. Lucia Vigie, and St. Vincent Argyle International.
In 2011, Caribbean Airlines bought Jamaica's flag carrier Air Jamaica (Kingston Norman Manley). It subsequently retired the brand in 2014.
