Low-cost regional carrier REDjet has been given permission to fly to five more Caribbean countries.
REDjet Chief Executive Officer Ian Burns made the announcement at a news conference in Port of Spain, Trinidad recently.
The conference was held to launch the partnership between the airline and shipping company Laparkan Trinidad Ltd.
Laparkan will now be responsible for the sale and distribution of REDjet tickets to travel agencies in T&T.
St. Lucia, Grenada, St. Kitts, Antigua and Barbuda and St. Maarten have been added to the four countries, Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica REDjet currently has permission to operate flights.
Burns said that through Laparkan, travel agents would be able to bundle REDjet fares into holiday packages with hotels and other services.
Burns said that despite a few early hiccups, REDjet has already instigated a rapid change in terms of prices for consumers.
He said that traffic had been increased by 83 percent on the Guyana route.
In addition to the new routes, REDjet will also be purchasing an additional aircraft in March 2012.
President of the Travel Agents Association Wayne Rodriguez praised the airline for putting an end to what he described as a monopoly system and introducing a spirit of competition to the airline industry.
He advised Burns to engage government agencies in dialogue in order to bring new life to the Caribbean tourism industry saying that airport and government taxes are killing tourism.
