Air Jamaica
Encyclopedia : A : AI : AIR : Air Jamaica
Air Jamaica is the national airline of Jamaica based in Kingston, Jamaica, operating scheduled services from Kingston and Montego Bay to 23 destinations in the Caribbean, the USA, Canada and United Kingdom. The airline's main bases are Norman Manley International Airport (KIN), Kingston and Sangster International Airport (MBJ), Montego Bay.
History
Air Jamaica was established in October 1968 and started operations on 1 April 1969, when it connected Kingston and Montego Bay, with New York and Miami. At that time the Jamaican government owned a substantial part of the airline, with Air Canada owning a minor share and providing technical, maintenance and logistical help.
During the 1970s, Air Jamaica saw a huge expansion. Flights were added to Toronto and Montreal in Canada, to Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in Puerto Rico, to Philadelphia and many other destinations, especially across the Caribbean. Long-haul services to Europe were started on 1 April 1974. Air Jamaica used Douglas DC-8s for a large part of the 1970s, but the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar and Boeing 727 jets became a part of the fleet towards the end of the decade when the government bought over Air Canada's small share. During the 1980s, growth slowed. Nevertheless, new routes were still opened, to Baltimore and Atlanta.
During the 1990s Air Jamaica continued to expand: the airline took over the Kingston-Nassau, Bahamas route, which had been left by British Airways, began a code sharing agreement with Delta Air Lines and opened routes to Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix (which was later dropped), and to Frankfurt, London, Manchester, Santo Domingo and Ft. Lauderdale. The route to Phoenix was opened because Air Jamaica was looking for expansion in the American West, beyond its route to Los Angeles. In 1994 the company was partially privatized, with the government retaining 25% of the company and giving 5% of it to the airline's employees. It started buying Airbus equipment, including the Airbus A340, and began a feeder service, a frequent flyer program (7th Heaven), and an inflight magazine, named SkyWritings. The airline also underwent a livery change during that decade. Air Jamaica has now opened a large operations base in Saint Lucia.
In December 2004, after massive financial losses, the government took back 100% control of Air Jamaica. It employs 3000 staff.
Services
Air Jamaica operates the following services (at May 2006):
- Direct Domestic Scheduled Destinations: Kingston, Montego Bay and Ocho Rios.
- Direct International Scheduled Destinations: Atlanta, Baltimore, Bridgetown, Barbados, Boston, Bonaire, Chicago, Willemstad-Hato, Curaçao, Fort Lauderdale, Georgetown, Cayman Isl., Grenada, Havana, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Nassau, Newark, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, and Toronto.
- Indirect (codeshare) International Destinations:
Caribbean Star Airlines: Anguilla, Antigua, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent, Tortola, Trinidad and Tobago.
Past Fleet
Air Jamaica in the past has operated the Airbus A300, Airbus A310, Airbus A320, Airbus A321, Airbus A340, Boeing 727-200, Boeing 747-100, Douglas DC-8, Douglas DC-9, McDonnell Douglas MD-83, and McDonnell Douglas MD-88.
Current Fleet
With an average age of 7.3 years, the Air Jamaica fleet consists of the following aircraft (as at July 2006):
- 8 Airbus A320-200 with an average fleet age of 8.6 years
- 6 Airbus A321-200 with an average fleet age of 5.3 years
- 2 Airbus A340-300 with an average fleet age of 7.8 years
External links
| Members of the Air Transport Association | |
|---|---|
| ABX Air | Alaska Airlines | Aloha Airlines | American Airlines | Astar Air Cargo | ATA Airlines | Atlas Air | Continental Airlines | Delta Air Lines | Evergreen International Airlines | FedEx | Hawaiian Airlines | JetBlue Airways | Midwest Airlines | Northwest Airlines | Southwest Airlines | United Airlines | UPS Airlines | US Airways | |
| Associate Members: Aeroméxico | Air Canada | Air Jamaica | Mexicana | |
|
Lists of Aircraft | Aircraft manufacturers | Aircraft engines | Aircraft engine manufacturers
| Airlines | Air forces | Aircraft weapons | Missiles | Timeline of aviation |
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.