State-owned Trinidadian carrier Caribbean Airlines is set to terminate its direct passenger and cargo service between Tobago and Barbados this Wednesday, a network adjustment that has left a critical gap in regional air connectivity. But in exclusive comments to Barbados TODAY, the two major regional airlines best positioned to absorb the abandoned route have confirmed they have no immediate plans to step in.
The route cancellation forms part of Caribbean Airlines’ broader strategy to optimize its regional network and align flight schedules with shifting customer demand. The carrier emphasized that travelers will still retain access to connections across Trinidad, Tobago and Barbados via its existing operating structure. Its long-running direct Piarco (Trinidad) to Barbados service, which traces its origins back to the launch of regular commercial passenger flights in Barbados in 1938, will remain unchanged, with two daily flights (BW216 and BW448) continuing to operate. Only the Trinidad-Tobago-Barbados triangular route, operated under flight numbers BW212 and BW213, will be scrapped.
Caribbean Airlines has noted that “multiple travel options” will remain available for passengers transiting between the three destinations. Travelers holding pre-booked tickets on the canceled services will be re-accommodated on same-day alternative Caribbean Airlines flights, and the carrier says it will reach out directly to all affected customers to share details of revised itineraries. It has urged passengers to verify that contact information linked to their bookings is up to date to ensure they receive timely notifications of any changes to their travel plans. The airline stressed that the schedule adjustment is designed to preserve reliable, convenient regional connectivity while matching capacity to current passenger demand, and has advised passengers traveling after Wednesday to confirm their booking status ahead of departure. It added that customers with affected reservations do not need to make alternate arrangements independently at this stage, as the airline will coordinate rebooking directly.
While the carrier has left an opening for other regional airlines to capture the new demand gap, industry players have signaled that any move to add the route will be slow and contingent on rigorous market assessment. Lyndon Gardiner, chairman and founder of interCaribbean Airways, told Barbados TODAY in an interview from his base in the Turks and Caicos Islands that his company is constantly evaluating opportunities to expand regional connectivity, but has no immediate plans to launch a Tobago-Barbados service.
“It is fair to say we look around and see if we can provide better connectivity for our passengers. So, I wouldn’t say that we are looking at this specifically or we are not looking at it specifically. I would be more general to say we always have our scope up to see what else we can do to add value to the network we have already built,” Gardiner explained. He added that launching any new route requires extensive planning, and the announcement of Caribbean Airlines’ exit came too recently for a rapid response: “No, there are no immediate plans. That news was only recently shared. So, for us, it takes time to obviously plan and then launch it. So, it’s not something we can do on the fly.”
For LIAT (2020) Airline Limited, the restructured successor to the former regional carrier once co-owned by the Barbados government, the decision to avoid immediate entry stems from a desire to avoid cutthroat overcapacity on already crowded routes. LIAT currently is assessing its existing Antigua-Barbados service, and has ruled out rushing to fill the Tobago-Barbados gap to avoid going head-to-head with interCaribbean, which already operates a major hub in Barbados.
“It [plans to fill the gap] is not a consideration that we are actively thinking of; surely because we know that interCaribbean obviously has a hub in Barbados and is poised to fill the gap,” LIAT Chief Executive Officer Hafsah Abdulsalam told Barbados TODAY from the airline’s Antigua headquarters. “We will be operating from Antigua into Barbados. So, what we are looking to do, is to assess and determine if indeed we are able to fill that gap; because there is no point being a head-to-head on a route that is already covered in terms of capacity, because it would just be who is leading on either side, and it’s a race to the bottom.”
Abdulsalam noted that interCaribbean already operates 10 to 11 weekly flights between Antigua and Barbados, and LIAT, which is still in the process of re-establishing its route network after restructuring, has no interest in adding oversupply to an already saturated route. “You could appreciate, interCaribbean would execute…a carrier that is based in that home hub, where its aircraft are over-nighting; it is easier to dispatch a flight out of your hub to all of your destinations, as opposed to another carrier coming in, and there have to be enough traffic coming into that destination,” she said. Abdulsalam added that LIAT does not expect to make a decision on adding the Tobago-Barbados route for at least two more months: “For the month of September, it is not in our plans. That I can say. But what will come up in the next month or two, based on how we assess the market and the capacity requirements of the route, then we can make a determination if we will deploy additional capacity to provide coverage that may be suitable or enough for the demand.”
Smaller regional carrier SVG Air, which operates daily 19-seater Twin Otter services connecting its St Vincent base to destinations including the Grenadines, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat and Carriacou, says it currently lacks the aircraft capacity to take on the additional demand, though founder Paul Gravel says the airline is open to assisting if approached. “We don’t have the equipment; we don’t have the spare equipment at the moment. Nobody has reached out to us, but we are willing to help; but we don’t want to step on anybody’s toes,” Gravel told Barbados TODAY.
Reaction from Barbados’ business community has so far been muted, with importers reporting no immediate major concerns over the lost cargo capacity. The Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) has been surveying its membership to gather feedback on the service cut, and so far has received no reports of material negative impacts. “No, [no adverse impact]. I met with council last week, and there were no reports in the negative regarding the impacts, given that change in the schedule,” BCCI President Paul Inniss told Barbados TODAY. “To date, we don’t have any information to suggest that it would materially impact chamber members.”