CAL to introduce $50 change fee on domestic flights

Effective December 12, Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) will apply a TT$50, one-way, Change Fee to flight/date changes made by passengers on domestic flights between Trinidad and Tobago.

The Change Fee will apply to tickets purchased on and from December 12, 2017 while the sale of open tickets will be discontinued with immediate effect.

Announcing the change at 7.30 pm today, CAL said "the implementation of this Change Fee will support our efforts to improve the efficacy of service to our customers."

The airline supported its decision with data which showed a trend of passengers not actually flying on their original booking, leaving empty seats on a subsidised route.

"As at November 26, 2017, CAL provided 1,025,694 seats on the air bridge, of which 876,825 seats were utilised by travellers. Of the latter figure, data generated from March 24, 2017 to present, 186,586 were passengers who did not travel on their originally scheduled flight – passengers not holding a booking for the specific day and time they wished to travel. For the same period in 2016, (we) provided 1,061,800 seats on the air bridge with 853,763 being utilised."

In addition to the immediate discontinuation of the sale of open tickets, CAL yesterday announced that tickets on the domestic air bridge will be valid for one year from the date of purchase and the Change Fee carries the validity of the ticket while payment of the Change Fee is non-refundable and non-transferable.

Further details are available on www.caribbean-airlines.com