Two airlines introduce Kingston-MoBay domestic hop
Published:Wednesday | April 2, 2014 | 12:00 AM
Richard Browne, Business Reporter
InterCaribbean Airways, the rebranded national airline of the Turks and Caicos Islands, is to start domestic flights in Jamaica between Kingston and Montego Bay later this month.
It is the latest airline to start scheduled flights between the two cities since Airspeed Charter started flying three days per week in December last year.
The route is also served with daily flights by Caribbean Airlines - but with daily flights to Montego Bay at 5 p.m. and to Kingston at 9:30 a.m.
Both InterCaribbean and Airspeed were marketing their routes in The Gleaner this week.
Prior to Airspeed's entry, the route was underserved, particularly for corporate customers wanting to do a day's business in Montego Bay, for about 10 months.
Jamaica Air Shuttle had started to fly the route in 2009 but suspended its flights between Tinson Pen and Montego Bay in February last year. In its last posting on its Facebook site, the airline blamed its problems on "the rigours of the prevailing toxic global economic climate that has sent the biggest and strongest of airlines scrambling for solutions to the challenges of skyrocketing operating costs and contracting margins".
InterCaribbean will start its on April 16, with corporate and other customers able to fly three days per week on two flights daily between the two international airports - Norman Manley (NMIA) and Sangster (SIA). The airline will be offering an introductory rate of US$29 one way, not including tax.
The flights are operated by 30-seat Embraer 120 aircraft with an onboard flight attendant.
16 weekly flights
InterCaribbean Airways - previously known as Air Turks and Caicos - has 16 weekly flights each way on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The airline offers onward flights to other Caribbean destinations such as Providenciales and Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos Islands, Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, and San Juan in Puerto Rico.
It has targeted the local business market as well as leisure travellers - particularly long haul fliers from Europe needing to transfer from or to Montego Bay or Kingston, or North American travellers wanting to divide time between the two cities.
"The service will be particularly helpful for travellers from the UK and Europe, as there will be a seamless connection to get them into either city. Passengers on airlines like Southwest, which do not fly into Kingston, will also be facilitated," said Jamaica's director of tourism, John Lynch, in the news release announcing the Jamaican domestic flights.
Airspeed Charter has scheduled return flights on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Its first flight leaves Kingston at 7:15 a.m., while the last return flight from Montego Bay leaves at 6 p.m.
Head of sales and marketing for the airline, Debbie Ann Stacey, said reviews have so far been positive and that most flights are fully booked.
The airline is focused on corporate customers with flights currently costing US$125 one way or US$240 return, including all taxes and expenses. Airspeed Charter currently flies a Piper Navajo PA31, a twin-engine aircraft that can carry up to eight passengers and two crew members.
The airline also has charter flights to the TCI, to Haiti, as well as to NMIA.
Inter-city travellers who don't want to fly have the option of taking the Knutsford Express executive bus service for $2,450 one way.