REDjet adds Antigua as its latest port of call
THE Government of Antigua has granted permission for REDjet, the Caribbean’s first low fare airline to begin operations there, adding yet another port of call to their list of destinations . This new development comes weeks after the airline was finally given the go ahead to initiate flights to Port of Spain, after months of controversy over safety of the carrier.
During a telephone interview with the Guyana Chronicle yesterday, REDjet’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ian Burns explained that the company is extremely pleased over this new development.
He said, “I am happy that we have been given the chance to open up straight flights from Georgetown to Antigua, for the first time this is in place which is good news for the Guyanese people.”
According to Burns, this approval will bring the total routes out of Georgetown to three including Port of Spain and Bridgetown.
As to when operations will commence to Trinidad and Jamaica, he explained that the airline is awaiting the approval documents before flights can begin.
In the wake of the delays that prevented the airline from initiating their service to Trinidad and Jamaica, President Bharrat Jagdeo had raised concerns over the accusations that the Barbados-based carrier was engaging in predatory pricing.
He’d also said that an “unconscionable airfare monopoly” by the Trinidad-based Caribbean Airlines on Guyanese passengers led him to welcome REDJet.
President Jagdeo has also waded into the controversy involving Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago’s’ delayed approval for REDjet to fly to both countries during the Thirty-Second Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community in St. Kitts in July.
In addition, Burns informed that REDjet is currently engaged in discussions with other governments to further expand their reach and offer even more persons the opportunity to fly.
GROWTH OF AIRLINE
According to Burns, since the launch of their flights between Barbados and Guyana, REDjet has recorded “incredible results” owing to the support received from the Guyanese market.
He noted that the Barbados to Guyana route has grown by 79 percent within two and half months.
“This growth is phenomenal; we said we were going to grow the market and this shows that the market was just waiting to explode,” he announced.
The CEO attributed this to the low airfares now available to the travelling public.
Addressing concerns over any impending increase in the promised ‘low fares’, Burns emphasized that when the service was launched, the concept was to provide air travel at affordable prices so that more persons will be able to travel, irrespective of the reasons.
“If we increase our fares then persons will not be able to travel and we said that we would offer fares that were lower than other airlines and we will continue to do this,” the REDjet CEO assured.
He reiterated that he is “extremely happy” with the Antiguan approval yesterday, which will see the airline expanding even further.
REDjet started servicing Guyana from Barbados in May, with fares as low as US$10. Their inaugural commercial flight arrived at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) from Barbados on May 10, 2011 with 149 passengers on board, including top REDjet officials and representatives of the Barbadian Government.