All calm on airbridge

The domestic airbridge returned to normal as of Thursday evening, with Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL) having transported all passengers who were booked to travel that day. In the first of two brief statements issued yesterday, CAL said its operations were back to normal “by late evening” on December 28, thanks to the use of its Boeing 737 jet fleet.

“(We) transported all passengers holding confirmed tickets for travel, as well as 288 stand-by passengers for travel to/from Trinidad and Tobago.” As for yesterday, CAL said it had a seat capacity of 4,432 on the domestic air bridge.

The update on airbridge operations comes two days after standby passengers staged a sit-in at the Piarco International Airport. Many of those who chanted “unacceptable”, led by Tobago House of Assembly Minority Leader Watson Duke, had been on standby since the day before, Tuesday, hoping to get on a flight to Tobago.

In a second statement, CAL reminded airbridge users that “priority is given to persons travelling on the specific date and time printed on their confirmed tickets. Persons not holding confirmed bookings are advised that travel will be subject solely to the availability of space and without guarantee.”

To ensure a more seamless travel experience, CAL encouraged travellers to use confirmed bookings rather than going on the standby list. Over the Christmas holiday week from December 21-28, the state-owned airline transported 20,073 passengers on the domestic airbridge, of which 4,430 were stand-by passengers. CAL thanked its “valued customers for their continued support,” saying it looked forward to providing safe and reliable airlift to the people of TT in 2018.