CARIBBEAN Airlines (CAL) will cut several unprofitable routes from June 1, Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Eli Zakour has said.<\/p>\n
In a statement to Parliament yesterday, Zakour said the airline suffered losses of $128 million from unprofitable routes introduced during a 2023 expansion into the Eastern Caribbean.<\/p>\n
The minister said the expansion, done under the direction of the previous board of directors and supported by the then government, was intended to strengthen regional connectivity, support tourism and facilitate trade.<\/p>\n
However, he said the assumptions behind the expansion did not align with market realities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the stated objectives of strengthening regional connectivity, supporting tourism and facilitating trade were sound in principle, the projections underpinning route selection, market sizing and financial assumptions supporting that expansion have since proven significantly different than the actual market conditions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Zakour said the current board of directors established a Route Oversight Committee in 2025 to conduct a comprehensive review of route performance, profitability and strategic alignment.<\/p>\n
He said the review confirmed that several routes launched under the 2023 expansion programme were introduced without adequate commercial justification and have generated sustained losses since inception.<\/p>\n
As part of the airline\u2019s ongoing network improvement programme, several routes have already been discontinued.<\/p>\n
Zakour said the Jamaica to Fort Lauderdale route was discontinued from November 2, 2025 after generating losses of US$7.2 million.<\/p>\n
He said the Trinidad to Puerto Rico route ended on January 10, 2026 after recording losses of $4.92 million.<\/p>\n
The minister said further network adjustments would take effect from June 1, 2026 to stem continued financial losses.<\/p>\n
These include withdrawal from the Dominica market, which incurred losses of US$0.73 million as of April 2026; and withdrawal from the St Kitts market, which recorded losses of US$1.65 million.<\/p>\n
The airline will also discontinue its non-stop Guyana to Suriname service, which generated losses of US$1.24 million.<\/p>\n
Additionally, service frequencies to Martinique and Guadeloupe will be reduced from four weekly flights to two.<\/p>\n
Zakour said the Martinique route generated losses of US$1.23 million, while the Guadeloupe route recorded losses of US$1.86 million.<\/p>\n
Zakour said the combined losses sustained on these routes as of April 2026 amounted to US$18.84 million, or more than $128 million.<\/p>\n
He said the route cuts and service reductions are expected to convert losses into operational savings and improve the airline\u2019s financial position.<\/p>\n
The minister assured passengers affected by the changes that Caribbean Airlines and travel agents would contact customers holding bookings beyond the discontinuation dates.<\/p>\n
Affected passengers, he said, would be offered re-accommodation on alternative regional services where feasible via Caribbean Airlines and partner connections, full refunds for the unused portions of tickets, or the option to retain ticket value as future travel credit subject to fare conditions.<\/p>\n
Zakour also said Caribbean Airlines is working to finalise a codeshare agreement with a regional airline partner.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce finalised and improved, the agreement will provide customers with access to a wider network of destinations through coordinated schedules, seamless connections, and integrated ticketing arrangements,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The minister said that with the airline\u2019s prior network decisions now under structured review, Caribbean Airlines is positioned to rebuild on a stronger commercial foundation.<\/p>\n
He added that the airline continues to invest in operational reliability, customer service improvements, fleet modernisation and disciplined route planning grounded in clear financial criteria.<\/p>\n
CAL responds<\/p>\n
In a release issued yesterday Caribbean Airlines confirmed that from June 1, 2026, it would discontinue service on the Dominica, St Kitts and Ogle to Suriname routes. Additionally, the airline would be reducing frequency to Martinique and Guadeloupe to twice weekly.<\/p>\n
Caribbean Airlines said customers holding bookings on affected services beyond the applicable discontinuation dates would be contacted directly by the airline or through their travel agents.<\/p>\n
Caribbean Airlines stated that affected passengers would be offered:<\/p>\n
\u2022 re-accommodation on alternative regional services where feasible<\/p>\n
\u2022 alternative itineraries via Caribbean Airlines and partner connections<\/p>\n
\u2022 a full refund of the unused portion of their ticket, or<\/p>\n
\u2022 retention of the ticket value as future travel credit, subject to fare conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cCaribbean Airlines is actively working towards concluding a codeshare agreement with a regional airline partner. Once finalised and approved, the agreement will provide customers with access to a wider network of destinations through coordinated schedules, seamless connections and integrated ticketing arrangements,\u201d it stated.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn keeping with standard aviation and regulatory practices, Caribbean Airlines will undertake the necessary operational, regulatory and customer support processes to facilitate a smooth transition,\u201d Caribbean Airlines stated.<\/p>\n
Caribbean Airlines said it remains committed to maintaining strong regional connectivity through a \u201csustainable and commercially responsible network,\u201d while continuing to focus on operational reliability, customer experience and long-term financial stability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CARIBBEAN Airlines (CAL) will cut several unprofitable routes from June 1, Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Eli Zakour…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":689236,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[45,49,48,1337,44],"class_list":["post-689235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-local","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=689235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/689236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=689235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=689235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=689235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}