IAN Burns, CEO and founder of the now defunct regional carrier RedJet, succumbed to a massive heart attack in his native Ireland on Wednesday, at the age of 58.

Burns founded and ran the regional low-fare carrier, RedJet, which started operating in May 2011, being incorporated in Barbados after Jamaica refused to register the airline in that jurisdiction.

Burns believed that the region could be unified by affordable and efficient air travel, which would be a boon to the region’s economy.

With two MD-82 planes and 94 employees, Burns set about to link Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad, St Lucia and Guyana with fares as low as US$9.99 one way.

His model posed a serious threat to the more traditional regional carriers, which sought to see the end of RedJet.(Asif Hakim)