The announcement by Continental Airlines that it is pulling back 69 regional jets from ExpressJet Holdings Inc. may signal an opportunity for Mesa Air Group. Houston-based Continental pulled back the planes after failing to win a cheaper contract from ExpressJet, also of Houston, which operates a total of 274 regional aircraft for Continental.

Bombardier Aerospace announced today that Caribbean Aircraft Leasing (BVI) Limited has signed a contract to acquire a new Bombardier Q300 50-seat turboprop airliner. The order was placed two months after Bombardier announced Caribbean Aircraft Leasing´s initial order for three Q300 aircraft. The contract announced today is valued at approximately $16.3 million. The four Q300 aircraft will be operated either by Caribbean Aircraft Leasing regional airline affiliates Caribbean Star Airlines Limited, based in Antigua, or Caribbean Sun Airlines Inc., based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They will join the two airlines´ existing fleet of 12 Bombardier 37-seat Dash 8/Q Series 100 and seven 50-seat Dash 8/Q Series 300 aircraft.

Air company Winair announced last week it plans to soup up its service between Antigua and Montserrat from four to six flights a day. The move was largely aimed at allowing easier access for American and European visitors over the peak tourism season. Air service to Montserrat resumed in July after a 10-year break due to the eruption of the Soufriere Hills Volcano in 1995, which devastated the island´s W.H. Bramble Airport.

Continental Airlines launched five new routes to Latin America and the Caribbean this weekend. Continental began service from Houston to Bonaire and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Continental also inaugurated service from Newark to Liberia, Costa Rica and Curacao. Service began from LaGuardia to Aruba. The new flight to Punta Cana departs Houston at 1:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, arriving in Punta Cana at 7:35 p.m. The return flight departs Punta Cana at 9 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday and arrives in Houston at 11:50 a.m.

Air Jamaica and the Government of Grenada have announced that there will be 8 weekly non-stop Lovebird flights between New York´s JFK International Airport and the island of Grenada, effective February 23, 2006. JM094 will operate Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays departing New York´s JFK at 10:30 am arriving in Grenada at 4:10pm. On the return leg JM095 will depart Grenada at 5:00pm and arrive in New York at 8:50pm.

Frontier Airlines has begun to look north to snowy Canada. The low-cost discount carrier is researching the possibility of expanding service to Canada, although no decisions have been made on destinations or a timetable, according to Chief Financial Officer Paul Tate. Analysts said Canada would be a good, logical move for Frontier. “You want to build your hub so you want as many spokes from good cities as you can. It gives you more flow over your system,” said airline analyst Raymond Neidl of Calyon Securities Inc.