JCAA denies that it thwarted plans by REDjet to fly to JA

The Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA) is seeking to clear the air on its handling of an application from REDjet in the wake of the decision by the low cost airline to delay plans to fly to Jamaica.

On Friday the Barbados-based air carrier announced a postponement of service to the country due to what it said were regulatory delays.

REDjet, which is viewed as a competitor to some of the established regional carriers, has been bogged down by bureaucratic and administrative setbacks in getting its services operational in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

But in response, the JCAA said the wait was not unusual and was not a deliberate attempt to thwart REDjet's plans to add Jamaica to its flight schedule.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Oscar Derby, the Director-General of the JCAA, Jamaica has an open skies policy and would not have taken any action to discourage a new airline from flying to the country.

“The only thing that could perhaps affect an airline flying to Jamaica is the various agreements that we have in place, so we have to make sure that the agreements are not conflicting and once that is so, the approval will be given as required or as appropriate,” he said.

REDjet has sent notice of the cancellation to passengers via email, and said they will be repaid in full.

The airline will also scrap plans to fly to Trinidad, and will suspend its service between Barbados and Jamaica for another two months.

Air J/CAL merger helped to delay REDjet  

And the JCAA said Thursday's signing of the final deal for Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) to take control of Air Jamaica contributed to the delay in the processing of REDjet's application.

Colonel Darby said as a precautionary measure, the Board of the JCAA made the decision to hold off on the application to determine if there was any conflict with the Caribbean Airlines/Air Jamaica merger.

“It was a precautionary measure to ensure that that agreement, which was signed, (would) not contain anything conflicting, so that we can move ahead with REDjet. We have absolutely no intention, the JCAA and I can speak confidently for the Government of Jamaica in this regard, to do anything that would cause any interruption or turning back of a legitimate application to operate services in Jamaica,” Colonel Derby told RJR News.