BWIA to Close Down on New Year´s Eve

Trinidad and Tobago national airline, BWIA, is to be shut down by December 31, 2006. A new company, Caribbean Airlines, is to take the place of BWIA.

The decision to close down BWIA was announced late Friday in Port of Spain following a meeting between several labour union officials representing workers and BWIA´s management.

This ends years of indecision by stakeholders, including the Trinidad and Tobago government –by far the major shareholder- on whether to cut ties with an airline they say had been losing millions of dollars annually.

BWIA reportedly lost in the neighborhood of $26 million last year with an average monthly loss since then of about $1 million.

BWIA´s Peter Davies in a television interview on Friday admitted to the failure of the airline, saying it had been unable to generate enough revenue to remain profitable and viable.

BWIA currently employs over 500 workers in Trinidad. All agreements, contracts and outstanding monies owed to workers will be settled on or before December 31, 2006 to make way for new carrier, Caribbean Airlines.

The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce has said it´s cautiously optimistic about the establishment of a new regional air carrier.