Flights in and out of Port of Spain, Kingston, Barbados, Toronto and Orlando, Florida stepped up

Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) is reporting that the extra flights it has added for the carnival season are almost fully booked.

For the period February 12-26, the airline added more flights between Port of Spain in Trinidad and Kingston, Jamaica; Barbados; Toronto, Canada; and Orlando, Florida in the United States with robust sales on the routes between New York, Trinidad, Guyana, Jamaica and Orlando.

Dionne Ligoure, CAL corporate communications manager, who made the disclosure to Trinidad and Tobago’s Newsday, said the airline had very healthy loads on its operations and flights into Trinidad.

Ligoure was speaking during a media conference to launch Trinidadian soca singer, Machel Montano’s One Show, which is being held on February 16 in collaboration with CAL.

“We have in fact added flights on some of our routes, and those are also fully subscribed or close to being absolutely filled,” she said.

“For example, out of North America, the traffic coming in is bumper, and we look forward to welcoming them to TT, the mecca, and look forward to welcoming them home to CAL and to our wonderful Caribbean region.”

CAL-Montano collaboration welcomed

CAL CEO Garvin Madera has welcomed the chance to work with Montano on the concert, of which CAL is a major sponsor, saying the two were “aligned in our mission to connect the region and take the Caribbean brand to the world”.

Madera said the alliance between Montano and CAL, as two of the region’s “leading brands”, was a “natural alliance”, and they shared many “similarities and synergies” in “the way we approach business, and the high regard we have for the culture and our people”.

Montano sings the theme song for the airline’s Welcome Home campaign, along with Aaron ‘Voice’ St Louis and Jamaican dancehall DJ Jeffrey ‘Agent Sasco’ Campbell.

This is a significant year for Montano, who is celebrating 40 years in the business, which has got very competitive. In spite of this, he has managed to consistently reinvent himself and is today the indisputable king of soca.

Montano has shared T&T’s culture throughout the world, shown artistes how to operate their craft as a business with professionalism and candour, and is a mentor to many aspiring creatives.

CAL has seen operating losses over the last few years, with an operational loss of $326.6 million (US$48 million) for the first half of 2021, which was consistent with the same period in 2020 when it recorded a loss of $331 million (US$48.7 million).