Finally! We have a low cost, budget airline in the Caribbean. Red Jet is a Barbados based airline that offers low fares for travel between Caribbean islands. It was launched in 2011 with some hitches, which were not Red Jet’s fault.
If you’re not from the Caribbean, you might not understand the gravity of this situation. You might be thinking that travel between Caribbean islands has to be cheap. And any logical thinking person would think that. After all, some of the distances between the islands is less than thirty minutes.
The truth of the matter, is that intra-island travel is pricey. I had heard the stories, but I never believed it until I experienced it. Back in 2008, I travelled to Trinidad and I paid six hundred and fifty dollars ($325 USD) for my ticket. In 2009, I went to Grenada and my ticket was just over five hundred dollars ($250 USD). Conversely, I paid six hundred dollars ($300 USD) for a ticket to New York in 2009. Up to now, nobody can explain why it cost me so much to travel “next door” to sister islands, and yet pay almost the same amount of money to visit the USA.
I’m glad that Red Jet is here. It gives us in the Caribbean more affordable travel options. Many times I wanted to take a weekend trip to St.Lucia or St.Vincent, but the airfare alone was too much. I’m hoping that this regional airline can maintain its low fares and offer exceptional customer service. Their presence has also created an impact on the existing Caribbean airlines who have lowered their fares.
I’m not sure if Red Jet and the other airlines can maintain extremely low fares for ever. But if you’re looking to explore the Caribbean, now would be a good time to do it.