Air Jamaica has unveiled an ambitious plan to reposition itself as a hub carrier.
Chief executive Mike Conway says his plan to market Jamaica as an alternative gateway to Miami is driven by a changing competitive landscape. He claims Miami's advantage is being eroded by increasingly troublesome US bureaucratic barriers to easy transit, including new onerous visa requirements, and by the projected higher costs of operating at the South Florida airport. Air Jamaica's transit strategy would be similar to Copa's operation in Panama City, Conway told the Latin American Airline Leaders Forum in Cancun in December.
Conway notes Jamaica already has open skies pacts with the USA and the Caribbean and is close to liberalising its bilateral with the European Union and many Latin American countries, "giving us also the regulatory basis to act as market opener for the region". And as Cuba becomes a more attractive business destination with the change of leadership there, Air Jamaica's easy access to the island would also give it an advantage.
Conway hopes to advance this strategy by developing relationships and partnerships with other airlines in the region that, like Air Jamaica, compete against American Airlines and other giants. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," he says. But the plan would be complicated because both Montego Bay and Kingston are vying to become the island's connecting hub, he says.
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"The enemy of my enemy is my friend" Mike Conway, chief executive, Air Jamaica |
Source: Airline Business
