InterCaribbean Airlines aims to offer cross-country flights from Kingston to Montego Bay this quarter as part of its expansion drive, management said.

It’s the latest company to announce plans to fill vacant slots from inoperative airlines.

The airline, formerly Air Turks & Caicos, arrived in the island on Wednesday sporting a new colour scheme as its livery.

“We are starting with two flights a day,” said InterCaribbean’s country manager in Jamaica, Carole Fox, in an Observer interview at the Norman Manley International Airport on Wednesday. “So what we are hoping is that as soon as we network with the airlines, no longer will anyone have to go to Montego Bay to pick up their relatives. The flights would be so structured that as they come in they fly over to Kingston and vice-versa.”

Jamaica Air Shuttle and Skylan Air in recent times offered similar service but are now inoperative.

InterCaribbean founder and chairman Lyndon Gardiner reasoned in the interview that previous carriers failed to adequately allow customers to book via online travel platforms and interconnect with other carriers.

“A large part of how this will work is being visible on the global distribution systems… these smaller companies didn’t have this exposure. So if someone went on Expedia or a travel agent they wouldn’t see their flights,” Gardiner said.

The Kingston-Montego Bay route would connect the island’s two cities within 30 minutes by air. However, the service suffers from thin margins, escalating fuel costs and cheaper ground competiton via Knutsford Express. The air service’s key clientele includes tourists and business persons.

Other carriers offering the service via sheduled or charter service include Caribbean Airlines, TimAir and Caribbean Aviation Training Centre.

“We did research and people are moving from the Anglophone to the Latin Caribbean. So the game changer for us is that we are going to make ourselves visible and bookable. So that is going to make a big difference between what we are doing and what others did,” said Gardiner.

InterCaribbean CEO Trevor Sadler also in the interview said that offering cross-country would serve to grow the overseas-based airline within Jamaica.

“This is the piece we were working on quite extensively over the last handful of months. Certainly by the end of March that would be a welcome piece of information to share with the public,” stated Sadler on the cross-country. “The existing licence we have been granted by the authority allows us to operate these flights within Jamaica. This is one of the drivers that will contribute to create employment for Jamaicans. We would envision the hiring of additional pilots as we continue that expansion.”

Gardiner, a former banker, started the company in his 20s financed with loans to initially secure his pilot’s licence, then another to finance the acquisition of a Cessna Skyhawk. He offered chartered services before expanding to sheduled international services. The airline operates six turboprop aircraft with another six in various stages of maintenance.

Last week it announced plans to connect Jamaica with the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico starting this month. It is rare for airlines to connect the Anglophone and Latin Caribbean based on historic cultural and economic barriers. The new service will, however, obviate the circuitous travel via Miami, USA or Panama on legacy carriers.

Concurrently, the airline also plans to offer service to Cuba. In fact it also plans to offer indirect connectivity to Brazil via the Dominican Republic. It would do so by synching its Dominican Republic arrivals with two daily flights originating in Brazil.

“We are in the process of signing an interconnectivity agreement which would allow traffic from Brazil the opportunity to come to Jamaca. So we are opening the Jamaican market for tourism purposes as well,” Gardiner said.