THE DISCONTINUATION of American Eagle’s non-stop service between San Juan and Barbados which took effect on April 5 is merely a “temporary adjustment”.
This assurance came from Barbados Tourism Authority president David Rice, who told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY that a “revised schedule” would be coming within a matter of months.
Last month American Airlines’ director of corporate communications for Latin America and the Caribbean, Martha Pantin, said the airline was in discussion with the Barbados Government about whether the service could be reinstated in the future.
Meanwhile, last Wednesday Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) president Colin Jordan said the cancellation would not have a “devastating” impact since reports suggested that the “loads had not been good”.
However, he said: “Every time it gets more difficult for visitors to get here, it will be a challenge.”
Jordan said it was likely that people who would have used the San Juan hub to come to Barbados will now travel from Miami.
He added that there should be some available seats from Miami since some individuals who previously travelled from there will now come from Dallas/Fort Worth instead.
“We don’t like losing capacity but it was a business decision,” Jordan said, noting that American Eagle could not be expected to continue running an unprofitable service.
Last month Barbados Travel Agents Association president Ann Sealy said that over the years, the San Juan to Barbados service had become unprofitable since the cost of fares made “flying to San Juan prohibitive”.
