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With monopoly on direct NY/Geo flights… American Airline given edge over regional carriers
On Monday, American Airlines has started selling tickets for the lucrative JFK to Georgetown route.
On any day, it would spell good news for travellers. That route is the busiest and most lucrative one from Guyana for airlines.
Over the years, passengers were at the mercies of airlines at peaks periods.
Several airlines have come and gone, including Delta, and a long list of charters like EZjet, RedJet and Universal.
Most recently, the New York route became even tougher as Fly Jamaica fell out of the picture after a crash at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport at Timehri last November.
However, news that American Airlines will be servicing the New York route has been impacting prices positively.
American Airlines, which is scheduled to start that route on December 18, pending approvals from the regulatory agencies here, has introduced price as low as US$700 for a return ticket on the economy class seats. For the Business class, it is $1,500.
There are few seats left as passengers snapped them up as soon as American started selling last Monday.
Caribbean Airlines has, for the same period, a return ticket on an economy class seat at US$1,213 and for business class, US$1,763.
However, while that spells good news for passengers, for the airlines that ply the US route, it is bad news.
Caribbean Airlines has been servicing the route for decades now, ever since it operated as BWIA.
It cannot fly directly from a Caribbean destination to New York. If it originates in Guyana, it has to in-transit in Trinidad. Similarly, if it originates in Trinidad, it must make a stop in Guyana.
Suriname Airways cannot fly directly to Miami. It has to originate from Suriname and make a stopover in a country like Guyana.
The same thing had happened to Fly Jamaica. That airline, co-owned by Guyanese, had to make stops in Jamaica before landing in the US once it originated in Georgetown.
However, late last year, local regulators granted approval for American Airlines to fly directly from Miami, Florida to Georgetown.
The airline, one of the biggest in the world, recently announced plans for the New York direct route.
It will have an edge over Caribbean Airlines and Suriname Airways.
American Airlines was also granted a huge discount on its airport landing fees.
“This is clearly uncompetitive. The airlines that have been servicing the routes for a long time are barred from direct flights to and from New York and Guyana. Yet airlines from the US are able to do direct flights. How can one compete against American Airlines and others like Jet Blue, which may come?
Guyana has given American Airlines the advantage by allowing them direct flight which is less operating cost and then a fees discount,” an industry source explained.
American’s arrival in Guyana would have come when Guyana needed more seats to the US.
There have been increasing visits with the emerging oil and gas sector.
The flights especially from Miami are packed with oil officials and workers.
In fact, American Airlines has reportedly been contracted to fly Exxon’s workers at lucrative terms.
Caribbean Airlines and Suriname Airways could hardly compete against the deep-pocketed American Airline, and maybe Jet Blue when it comes.
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