Air Jamaica, CAL deal sealed

Friday, May 27, 2011

THE merger of Air Jamaica and Caribbean Airlines (CAL) is now official following yesterday's closing of the deal between the Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago governments.

The agreement was signed by Jamaica's Minister of Finance and the Public Service Audley Shaw and his Trinidadian counterpart Winston Dookeran.

The deal, which took more than a year to be formalised, represents the formal transfer of Air Jamaica's routes to Caribbean Airlines and elevates the Trinidad-based airline as the national carrier of Jamaica.

Chairman of Air Jamaica, Dennis Lalor has been nominated to serve as a member on CAL's Board of Directors.

Shaw, who is in Trinidad and Tobago for a Caribbean Development Bank meeting, heralded the event as a "red letter day for Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and the Caribbean as it signals a concrete example of economic integration".

"It is my hope that this will inspire other such fine examples," Shaw said in a release.

According to the finance minister, the merger of the two airlines will create a larger product that will build capacity and critical mass while allowing for the increased viability and profitability of this new regional carrier

Shaw thanked Trinidad's Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Dookeran, as well as Trinidad's Transport Minister Jack Warner for following through on their commitment to finalise the merger.

Meanwhile, the release noted that Persad-Bissessar has welcomed the finalisation of the initiative and expressed confidence in the future of the larger airline, which she agreed represented a "great symbol of Caribbean economic integration".

The merger was also welcomed by Dookeran who emphasised the need to maintain the strong Air Jamaica brand and its goodwill in the merged airline's marketing programme.

In April last year, the Jamaican government assumed all financial liabilities up to the end of that month for Air Jamaica with CAL assuming the financial risk of continuing Air Jamaica's activities from May 1, 2010.

Under the agreement, the Jamaica government will own 16 per cent of the Trinidad-based CAL while Port of Spain will spend an estimated US$49.2 million to facilitate the expansion of CAL, which took over five of Air Jamaica's profitable routes last year.