CAL introduces premium economy option on 737s

Caribbean Airlines CEO Garvin Medera, left, and Airports Authority chairman Keith Thomas relax in the airline’s Premium Economy seats at Hangar 10, Piarco International Airport on Monday. PHOTO BY ANGELO MARCELLE
Caribbean Airlines CEO Garvin Medera, left, and Airports Authority chairman Keith Thomas relax in the airline’s Premium Economy seats at Hangar 10, Piarco International Airport on Monday. PHOTO BY ANGELO MARCELLE

STATE carrier Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL) will hopefully have all its audited financial statements updated and presented to Parliament by the end of the year.

“There’s a process as you know, and we have a lot of work to do to get prior years up to scratch,” CEO Garvin Madera told reporters on Monday at the airline’s Piarco headquarters.

The airline, despite this year receiving a subsidy from the Government to the tune of $37,049,090, up from $35,043,800 last year, has not presented its financial statements to Parliament since 2015, for the financial year 2014. That year, CAL recorded a loss of US$300 million. Since then, the public has not been given significant insight into the airline’s financial performance.

Madera provided a snippet of information, saying the first quarter of 2018 has been an improvement on the same period the year before. He declined, however, to give figures. He did note that revenue in the first quarter increased 21 per cent and after-tax net income by 64 per cent—despite a 14 per cent increase in fuel prices. Oil prices are averaging over US$70 per barrel, while the airline had budgeted for $60 a barrel.

“The airline is seasonal, so profitability on a whole for the airline doesn’t necessarily hinge on one quarter or the other, but what we are representing is an improvement year on year,” he said. Volatile fuel prices are a “consequence of doing business in this industry,” Madera said, but the airline has been looking at innovation and other methods of optimisation, and so far for 2018, it has already progressed.

Among those innovations was the launch yesterday of “Caribbean Plus” – CAL’s version of premium economy, offering passengers more reclining and legroom, and preferred boarding and debarkation, as well as pre-paying and reservation of seats.

Premium economy seats run from rows four through ten. The additional fee per seat ranges from US$15 to US$35, depending on the duration of a flight.

The service is expected to be launched on June 1 and will be available on all CAL Boeing-737 airliners. Madera said the company’s revenue projections for the service are “favourable,” and the cost of installation will be covered by the anticipated revenue increase.

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"CAL introduces premium economy option on 737s"

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