Cargo airline off to slow start
Published:Friday | August 26, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Exec Direct Aviation (EDA), Jamaica's only all-cargo airline, has secured permits to fly to Cayman Islands and Nassau, Bahamas, the company said Wednesday.
EDA, a new start-up which lifted off with its first shipment of cargo four weeks ago, is now moving cargo weekly between Jamaica and Curaçao.
Business has been slow in coming, but EDA, which operates a four-tonne capacity Saab 340 turboprop plane, says demand is increasing as the company gains name recognition among cross-border traders.
"EDA started moving cargo between Jamaica and Curaçao for the past four weeks, and although the demand for the service was slow at first we are now experiencing more requests for our services; and we expect this to continue when our new sales team hits the road in September," said chief operating officer and shareholder Kamal Clarke in a press statement.
"Ideally, we are hoping to move cargo from Jamaica through Haiti to Curaçao, because we know that there are a number of local companies who are doing business in Haiti and we have the relevant permit to fly cargo into Haiti," Clarke said.
EDA gave no start-up date for the service to Cayman and The Bahamas, but said it would be "soon".
Handling for EDA general cargo operation is provided by AJAS Limited, the company said.