THE BARBADOS TOURISM AUTHORITY (BTA) would love to see REDjet fly the skies of the Caribbean again. But according to BTA chairman Adrian Elcock, not many Caribbean Governments are interested in entering the airline business in these rough economic times.
Noting that Barbados remains a 49 per cent owner of LIAT and therefore makes or loses money based on the airline’s profitability, the BTA boss said that assisting REDjet would be a completely different scenario. “REDjet would have known the market conditions coming in, so I assume their business model would have factored that in regarding a possible subsidy, but I do believe there is some room for REDjet to operate based on their pricing model,” Elcock told the DAILY NATION in an exclusive yesterday.
“Whether their pricing model is at the right level is a decision they would eventually have to make. It’s really a difficult position they’ve found themselves in, especially since we had seen progress from our efforts in the region.” Elcock said the BTA had welcomed REDjet’s low-cost initiatives with open arms and had even worked out a marketing strategy to share with the company in an effort to improved inter-Caribbean travel, which is now Barbados’ third largest market behind the United Kingdom and the United States.
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