CAL: Carnival flights almost fully booked

Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL) corporate communications manager Dionne Ligoure says the extra flights the airline has added for the Carnival season are almost fully booked.

Speaking to Newsday at the media conference to launch Machel Montano’s One Show on Thursday, she said the airline had very healthy loads on its operations and flights into TT.

“We have in fact added flights on some of our routes, and those are also fully subscribed or close to being absolutely filled. For example, out of North America, the traffic coming in is bumper, and we look forward to welcoming them to TT, the mecca, and look forward to welcoming them home to CAL and to our wonderful Caribbean region.”

The airline added more flights between Port of Spain and Kingston, Jamaica; Barbados; Toronto; and Orlando, Florida, for the period February 12-26, and is having sales on routes between New York, Trinidad, Guyana, Jamaica and Orlando.

CAL CEO Garvin Madera said he welcomed the chance to work with Montano on the concert, of which CAL is a major sponsor, saying the two were "aligned in our mission to connect the region and take the Caribbean brand to the world."

In praise of Montano, he said, "This is a significant year for Machel: 40 years in a business that is highly competitive. In spite of this, he has managed consistently to reinvent himself and today he is the undisputable king of soca. He has shared our culture throughout the world, shown artistes how to operate their craft as a business with professionalism and candour, and is a mentor to many aspiring creatives.

"I tip my hat to his enduring legacy and work ethic, a true Caribbean man, an icon, with much to offer our country, the Caribbean and the world."

Madera said the alliance between Montano and CAL, as two of the region's "leading brands," was a "natural alliance," and they shared many "similarities and synergies": "The way we approach business, and the high regard we have for the culture and our people.”

Montano sings the theme song for the airline’s Welcome Home campaign, along with Aaron “Voice” St Louis and Jamaican dancehall DJ Jeffrey “Agent Sasco” Campbell.

Madera said the campaign is resonating around the region.

“It’s practically taken on a life of its own, not only because of our Welcome Home song, but also because we connect to the idea of home. It conjures up warm feelings of home, of days playing three-hole marbles, the infamous and often bokee, cricket in the road with a soft-drink case as the wicket, and endless days in the sun taking the heat without seemingly a care in the world.This, he said, the Welcome Home campaign "strikes at the core of things that connect all of us and it places people and service at the centre of all we are doing at CAL."

As the year and the campaign progress, he said, "You will see a deeper focus on service and expansion of our network."CAL was excited, he said, about "all the positive things taking place at the airline and in the region" reflected in the campaign.

He added, "Our brand is unmissable this Carnival here in TT and we will be unmissable at festivals and celebrations throughout the region and the diaspora.”

CAL has seen operating losses over the last few years, with an operational loss of $326.6 million (US$48 million) for the first half of 2021, which was consistent with the same period in 2020, when it recorded a loss of $331 million (US$48.7 million).