Dear Editor,
Caribbean Airlines has taken note of the article appearing in the Guyana Chronicle newspaper on December 31, 2019.
The airline considers it important to point out the following:
(i) Caribbean Airlines and its predecessor BWIA International Airways have faithfully served Guyana since 1947. While other providers have come and gone, Caribbean Airlines has maintained its commitment to Guyana regardless of whether times are good or bad.
(ii) Like all airlines in the current commercial climate, Caribbean Airlines faces intense competition and constant upward pressure on overall costs, while also trying to invest for the future.
(iii) Caribbean Airlines has and continues to carefully manage ticket prices for the Guyana market. The airline’s pricing policies are done in line with its operational costs and not with a view to exploit any given market, so the claim of artificially high prices, based on a monopoly as stated in the article is respectfully wrong.
(iv) Ticket prices of foreign carriers operating into and out of Guyana are in fact regularly higher than Caribbean Airlines, particularly with respect to fares that include a checked bag.
(v) Caribbean Airlines recently launched Caribbean branded fares which offer more choice and greater flexibility to all customers. The fare options on the airline are now LITE, CLASSIC, FLEX, BIZ and BIZ FLEX all with different features, to cater to the specific needs of travellers.
(vi) Guyana is the only market outside of Trinidad and Tobago which offers “Caribbean Layaway” which allows customers to use a payment plan to purchase tickets.
(vii) The assertion that Caribbean Airlines is “using the Guyana market as a “cash cow” using the revenues to subsidize Trinidadians travel between Trinidad and Tobago by offsetting (sic) losses being incurred by the company through the Port of Spain to Tobago air bridges (sic), which they say is haemorrhaging (sic) the airline” is wrong.
The accounts and financing of the domestic air bridge between Trinidad and Tobago is not co-mingled with the airline’s international operations. And the revenues from international routes including Guyana are not used to offset losses on the domestic air bridge.
Caribbean Airlines has a clear arrangement with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago (GORTT) as it relates to the financing and management of the domestic air bridge which has nothing to do with revenues from any international routes.
Caribbean Airlines as an organisation has achieved an operating profit for the first time in many years. The airline is excited to be reinvesting in a new fleet, new routes, and improved services. This includes Guyana, where we launched the new service to Havana, Cuba, added additional flights on existing routes including New York, and have further expansions planned over the next few months and years including the opening of additional ticket offices.
These are substantial investments in the Guyanese market, where Caribbean Airlines already has a number of competitors and where there is always the threat of new entrants.
On a final note, we are quite aware of and are very deeply concerned about the continued inconvenience associated with the need to transit through Trinidad and Tobago on the way to the United States of America.
Caribbean Airlines has met all of the requirements, to facilitate non-stop travel between Guyana and the United States of America. However, the final regulatory approval to permit such, lies within the jurisdiction of the Government of Guyana and the United States authorities to grant permission of same.
The airline is looking forward with much anticipation for this authorization to be granted.
Caribbean Airlines continues to be committed to faithfully serving Guyana and the region as a whole and takes this opportunity to wish all of our loyal customers a happy and successful new year and we look forward to being your Caribbean airline of choice in 2020.
Yours faithfully,
Dionne Ligoure,
Head Corporate Communications,
Caribbean Airlines Limited
