Günter Endres/Port of Spain
Sixteen times a day, a 56-seat Air Caribbean NAMC YS-11A-500 turboprop takes off on one of the shuttle flights which form the "air bridge" between Trinidad's Piarco Airport and Tobago's Crown Point International. In peak season, demand rises to make up to 38 sectors a day the norm.
In the three years since it began operations, the airline has carried 900,000 passengers, 95-98% of them domestic traffic, with an enviable on-time performance of 99% on the 20min hop. Now, it wants to capitalise on its success on regional routes, and expand to the USA.
Leslie Lucky-Samaroo, who founded Air Caribbean with another businessman, Roland Amar, has built air-bridges before. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he operated the Trinidad-Tobago route with Caribbean United Airlines until it was taken back into the BWIA Inter-national Airways fold. With fare restrictions imposed and traffic declining from 1989, however, BWIA's losses multiplied and the Trinidad & Tobago Government put this politically volatile route out to tender in 1991.
The tender was won by Air Caribbean, which bought three stored YS-11A-500s, at $1 million each and began operations on the air-bridge in August 1993. A fourth YS-11A, a cargo-door -equipped -600, was acquired in February 1995, and is now operated in the all-freight role.
Two additional YS-11A-500s are due to join the fleet in December 1996 and March 1997, respectively. The aircraft will be used to expand services in the southern Caribbean. Air Caribbean claims to be the largest passenger-aircraft operator of the Rolls-Royce Dart-powered Japanese-manufactured twin-turboprop outside its home country. The carrier says that it achieves a 99.2% on-time reliability on a minimum of 16 flights a day.
Lucky-Samaroo knew that the air-bridge deal was no blueprint for riches, but he says, the YS-11A gave him a fighting chance. He understands that the route cannot stand a fare level beyond TT$250 (about $40), but feels that there is still some leeway for the Government to allow an increase by a few dollars from the present TT$243 round trip. While this would help, the struggle to make a profit would remain.
In the first year following the take-over of the route, losses amounted to TT$3.4 million, partly due, Lucky-Samaroo insists, to BWIA staying on the route for six months, despite a Government agreement that the transition period would be one month only. He admits, to a small profit on a turnover of TT$35 million, in the financial year to 30 September, 1995, and hopes to stay in profit during 1996.
With no chance to progress locally, expanding regionally is the only way for Air Caribbean to go. The airline is building up its passenger-charter business and making a strong play for the growing cargo market within the eastern/ southern Caribbean and to the northern parts of South America, but plans for scheduled regional expansion have been frustrated by the Government.
When Edward Acker took the helm briefly at BWIA in 1995/6, as he guided the airline through the privatisation process, the Government granted BWIA exclusive rights to all bilaterals for 15 years. As a result, Air Caribbean cannot obtain an international scheduled licence and Lucky has had to use his inventive skills to overcome considerable obstacles.
Negotiations being held with neighbouring island states for designation as the national carrier - Barbados, Grenada and St Vincent are candidates - are going well, he says. Air Car-ibbean has recently received operating licences from Barbados and Grenada and is awaiting similar approvals from St Lucia and St Vincent.
Despite its commitment to the YS-11, the airline is in discussions with leasing companies for new regional aircraft. Lucky is talking to GE Capital Aviation Services about the lease of de Havilland Dash 8s, and with Lufthansa, to take over some of the ex-CityLine Fokker 50s.
The carrier's boss, however, has a vision which extends beyond the confines of the Caribbean, and to the lucrative Miami, Florida, route. Working closely with Boeing, Lucky has commissioned a feasibility study for the possible introduction of a Boeing 737 from 1997.
It is clear that Lucky-Samaroo's plans for Air Caribbean are not merely "pie in the sky" - but, with Caribbean governments' traditional fickleness, he will not object to a little luck.
"With no chance to progress locally, expanding regionally is the only way for Air Caribbean to go-it is aiming at the growing Caribbean cargo market."
Source: Flight International
