Air Jamaica back on the market

Chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board John Lynch has reported that despite continued financial losses, Air Jamaica’s performance of the national airline has improved over the last six months.(Photo: www.caribbeanalpa.com)

KINGSTON, Jamaica, November 19, 2009 – Air Jamaica is back on the market, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has announced.

"We have had some discussions but I think that those discussions have not quite materialised, so I think Air Jamaica is back on the market. We are still seeking to find a partner,” he said recently in London.

“We are not interested in selling off Air Jamaica in full. Jamaica will always maintain a significant interest in Air Jamaica but we need partnerships to keep the airline alive…We are working now to see if we can get partnerships to share in the cost of operating Air Jamaica.”

It has been reported that the owners of US low-cost carrier, Spirit Airlines were on course to purchase Jamaica’s national carrier.

The Bruce Golding administration has been trying to privatise the airline for some time now and said it must be taken off the budget before the end of this year.

Just last month the Jamaica Airline Pilots Association (JALPA) announced that it was awaiting a reply from the government to a bid it had submitted to acquire the carrier.

JALPA president Captain Russell Capleton said that the association, which comprises the airline's 140 pilots, was spearheading the acquisition effort on behalf of staff.

"We have proposed that we acquire the airline, and this is coming on the heels of the Government stating that the cost of divesting the airline was expensive," Captain Capleton told the Jamaica Observer newspaper near the end of last month.

Prime Minister Golding said the divestment process would cost the government almost US$200 million.

Meantime, Chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board John Lynch has reported that despite continued financial losses, Air Jamaica’s performance of the national airline has improved over the last six months.

"Air Jamaica has been doing much better over the last six months. They are still losing a lot of money but by cutting their routes, rationalising, and flying more efficiently, they have cut cost. They are doing much better," he said.