US Airways Cashing In On the Caribbean

godking
25 February 2005 5:00am

The Caribbean has emerged as an attractive market for struggling United States airlines and more recent upstarts – the low cost carriers.

With the global aviation industry facing the most turbulent period ever, leading US airlines have been steadily expanding service to the region, seeking to capitalize on relatively high volumes of leisure and VFR traffic (visiting friends and relatives) in and out of the Caribbean.

According to experts, the Caribbean offers some of the highest passenger revenue per seat-mile in the business and European carriers have also been expanding south, with BMI (formerly British Midlands) being the latest out of Manchester, England.

For US Airways, the seventh biggest carrier in North America which has sought Chapter Eleven (bankruptcy) protection twice in three years, the Caribbean has emerged as a critical element of its transformation strategy.

Only last week, the airline officially opened a new hub in Fort Lauderdale to service the Caribbean and Latin America and also began new direct flights from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Barbados, St Lucia and Costa Rica.

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