Inability to fill seats triggers BA pull-out from Montego Bay
Published:Saturday | September 17, 2011 | 12:00 AM
British Airways (BA) says its inability to fill seats on its flights out of London's Gatwick Airport into the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, was the major factor which led to the airline pulling out of the Jamaican gateway.
The airline said it was filling less than 50 per cent of its seats.
As of March 2012, the airline will pull out of the tourism capital, moving to Norman Manley Airport in Kingston and the VC Bird International Airport in Antigua. This is the second time since 2002 that BA has pulled out of Montego Bay.
"In 2010 and 2011, we increased our capacity to the region significantly with the hope that the leisure industry would have recovered quicker, but the premium side of the business has recovered much quicker," Keith Williams, BA chief executive officer, told The Gleaner.
Simon Brooks, the airline's head of consumer sales, said BA had struggled to attract the premium market, but with the economic climate, they just couldn't sustain premium volume or the yields to make the route viable.
According to Brooks, he has been having some really positive conversations with some premium hoteliers in Montego Bay, but could not attract the passengers necessary to sustain the route.