Acquiring Air Jamaica (AJ) was the first step in Caribbean Airlines’ (CAL) journey to become the region’s only carrier.
After six months of transitioning at Air Jamaica, this country’s national carrier has set its sights on Liat.
If CAL’s chief executive Captain Ian Brunton has his way, that won’t happen until its marriage with Air Jamaica has been fully consummated in May 2011.
“It was former Prime Minister Manning’s vision to have one Caribbean airline. And that was part of CAL’s mandate when we started off,” Brunton told the Business Guardian.
CAL replaced the debt-burdened British West Indian Airways (BWIA) on January 1, 2007. The T&T Government absorbed the debt and gave CAL a clean balance sheet to begin operations. Now a successful airline, CAL is in expansion mode. After being passed over in its first attempt to acquire Air Jamaica, CAL was given the nod after it re-bid.
“Liat has always been in our sights.We started talks and we are continuing those talks in early December. It would be a strategic alliance and integration of the region,” said Brunton.
