REDjet airlines has become frustrated in trying to secure landing rights to Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica. The airline blamed "ongoing regulatory delays" in Port-of-Spain and Kingston for the decision.
The Barbadian based airline which had promised to reduced fares in the routes between Barbados, Trinidad, Guyana, and Jamaica has had to cancel those plans because of what it see as bureaucratic and administrative delays in getting permission from the two Caribbean states, and members of CARICOM.
The airline has informed customers who had requested flights to Jamaica, and Trinidad that the delays were out of its control and has promised a full refund.
The low cost carrier (LCC) will no longer seek to operate flights between Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and has also announced a postponement of the service between Barbados and Jamaica for another two months.
In the Trinidad Express of May 18, 2011, it was reported that "The Air Transport Licensing Authority (ATLA) has not granted new low-fares airline REDjet its commercial licence to begin operations in Trinidad and Tobago because it is yet to receive the airline's application from the Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority (TTCAA)."
Is there any hope for a Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) when the players treat each other in this manner. Barbadian shelves are inundated with products from both Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica, yet Barbados does not implement red tape measures to frustrate other Caribbean territories and its workforce, why then is this happening to Barbadian investors.
Barbadian investors have had to face cheaper competition coming out of the oil rich Trinidad and Tobago, yet this type of discrimination has not shown itself. Should Barbados therefore step out of the region and source products and services at cheaper rates, and stop supporting Trinidad and its workforce?
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