BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – Just weeks after Caribbean Airlines (CAL) officially ended its air services between Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica, and St. Kitts and Nevis, the incoming president of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) is sounding the alarm over the move, pushing the airline and the Trinidad and Tobago government to reconsider the financially motivated decision.
When announcing the route cuts earlier this year, government officials and airline leadership cited cumulative losses exceeding $2.3 million on the two discontinued services as the core justification for ending the routes, which formally ceased operations at the start of June 2026.
In a recent interview with Caribbean Pulse News, Gregor Nassief, CHTA’s president-elect, made clear his deep disappointment with the call to cut the Dominica-Trinidad route, laying out the far-reaching harm the cancellation could bring to both regional connectivity and the Caribbean’s $50 billion tourism sector. He stressed that the small losses recorded on the route are insignificant when compared to underperforming routes CAL operates to other destinations, and that new air links require an extended runway period to grow into profitability.
“I fear that the potential of this route was not given sufficient time. I really hope that CAL is able to re-look at that. As we talk about external shocks to the Caribbean, high airfares and rising prices, the Caribbean needs to look internally to itself as a domestic market for tourism, corporate travel, sports and entertainment,” Nassief said in the interview.
A veteran hospitality leader, Nassief emphasized that consistent, affordable inter-island air connectivity is the backbone of sustainable tourism development across the Caribbean. Ending the Dominica-Trinidad route does not only disrupt direct travel between the two island nations, he argued, but also undermines years of coordinated work to build out the region’s multi-destination tourism product — a key strategy for extending visitor stays and boosting overall tourism revenue. He noted that the two islands offer complementary experiences that appeal perfectly to international travelers: visitors can spend days exploring Dominica’s world-famous rainforests, rivers and natural attractions, then head to Trinidad for its vibrant culture, cuisine and urban attractions.
Beyond intra-regional travel, Nassief pointed out that the route served as a critical, efficient gateway for international visitors coming from major source markets including the United States and Canada. Currently, Dominica has no direct air service to major North American hubs like New York’s JFK Airport or Toronto Pearson International Airport, meaning the Port of Spain connection was the most seamless option for travelers from those markets to reach the island. This loss, he said, will be felt on both sides of the route, weakening access for travelers to both destinations.
The CHTA leader also used the moment to draw attention to the longstanding crisis of excessive air travel taxes across the Caribbean, which he called one of the biggest barriers to deeper regional integration. Nassief explained that across the region, taxes on intra-Caribbean travel can reach as high as 50 percent of ticket costs, compared to a global average of just 15 percent.
“It’s two decades overdue [for reform]. It is crazy that, as a region, we tax our travellers up to 50 percent while the average international travel tax is around 15 percent. We make it so difficult for our own people to travel,” he said.
According to Nassief’s estimates, this excessive tax burden and the resulting high cost of inter-regional travel is costing the Caribbean billions of dollars in lost economic activity annually. It holds back progress in three critical areas: free movement for residents traveling for business, medical care, leisure and cultural events, the growth of multi-destination tourism products, and the region’s ability to capitalize on future airlift from fast-growing emerging markets.
Looking ahead, Nassief acknowledged that new direct air links from emerging source markets including the Middle East, Africa, Asia and South America are likely to become a reality in coming years. However, he stressed that these new long-haul services will almost certainly route through major Caribbean hub airports rather than flying directly to smaller island nations, making strong intra-regional connectivity from those hubs more important than ever to distribute the economic benefits of new international traffic across the region.
Nassief closed by reiterating his appeal, saying that restoring the Dominica-Trinidad route is a critical step toward building a more resilient, integrated and prosperous regional tourism industry for all Caribbean nations.