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Wi nice!! Mr Ed ...doan tap atall!!! Airlift take-off - New gateways, more flights scuttle seats subsidy
Published: Wednesday | December 29, 2010 Avia Collinder, Business Writer
The tourism ministry is trumpeting what it says is a major airlift boost to the island this year, that has resulted in more tourists to our shores and made it unnecessary for the Government to continue to fork out millions of US dollars to subsidise seats as it did with American Airlines in 2009.
With the addition of nine new airlines flying into the international airports in Kingston and Montego Bay, as well as the addition of new gateways by five airlines which were already servicing the country, airlift into the island improved significantly in the first three quarters of 2010, Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett said.
The nine airlines which added Jamaica to their itineraries are Aero Graviota out of Santiago de Cuba; Airtran Airlines with flights from Atlanta, Baltimore and Orlando; the Dutch Arkefly Air; Blue Panorama and Livingston SPA from Milan, Italy; Insel Air out of Curacao; USA 3000 from Chicago, Detroit and St Louis; Western Air out of Nassau, The Bahamas; and Westjet Airlines with flights from Ottawa and Toronto in Canada.
Figures from the tourism ministry said these airlines brought an additional 312,550 passengers to Jamaica between January and August this year.
Meanwhile, airlines already serving the country, but which opened up new gateways this year, were British Airways which added the London Gatwick to Montego Bay route; Delta Airlines, which began service from New York's JFK into Kingston's Norman Manley International Airport; JetBlue from JFK, Boston and Orlando into Montego Bay; USAir, which added a Phoenix to Montego Bay flight; and American airlines also added New York.
"We are pleased to report that American Airlines continues to serve the three gateways to Montego Bay without any financial support from the destination, and with the addition of New York, is currently flying 64 flights weekly into Jamaica from these gateways." Bartlett told Wednesday Business.
The new gateways provided an additional 47,142 passengers to Jamaica, the ministry has reported. Meanwhile, it said that between January and August the total number of passengers into Jamaica grew by 2.1 per cent reaching 1.6 million. With this performance, the minister has said, there was no need for the Government to go the route of paying airlines for empty seats into Jamaica as was the case with American Airlines between November 2008 and November 2009.
Controversial arrangement
Under the arrangement, which earned the ire of the management of Air Jamaica, contractor general and the Opposition People's National Party, Jamaica paid out US$2,907,735.79 to American Airlines, which flew some 74,070 visitors to Jamaica.
The programme was not renewed after its one-year after the controversy it stirred as well as the fact that it earned the country far below the US$96 million it was projected to rake in.
Jamaica earned just US$4.6 million or less than five per cent of the projected amount directly from the seat-subsidy contract.
nice! Under the arrangement, American Airlines would not fly its planes into Jamaica if less than 65 per cent of the seats were taken up. However, if the aircraft was more than 65 per cent but less than 75 per cent full, Jamaica was required to pay the 10 per cent revenue that the airline would lose.
There were three separate revenue guarantee agreements covering the Miami, Chicago and Dallas gateways. The aggregate guarantee was for US$4.5 million, of which US$2,907,735.79 was paid, the tourism ministry said.
At the time of signing the contract with the airline, Bartlett had said the deal would ensure about 156,000 more visitors.
With only half that number, or 74,070 visitors materialising, Bartlett still maintained that it was a good deal.
He has put the total estimated benefit to Jamaica from the arrangement at US$51.3 million or J$4.6 billion, but did not elaborate on how this benefit came about.
"Undoubtedly, the arrangement has aided Jamaica in weathering the economic depression that has gripped the entire globe," said Bartlett.
"There are and will be no further payments under the contract," he said, adding that no similar new arrangements were being considered.
austanny@yahoo.com
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