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.
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Air Jamaica Airbus A340 (6Y-JMM) |
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.
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:
Delta Air Lines:
Phoenix,
Memphis,
Nashville,
Cincinnati.
Air Canada:
Montréal.
Caribbean Star Airlines:
Anguilla,
Antigua,
Dominica,
St. Kitts and Nevis,
St. Lucia,
St. Maarten,
St. Vincent,
Tortola,
Trinidad and Tobago.
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.
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
*
Air Jamaica*
Air Jamaica Fleet Detail*
Air Jamaica Passenger Opinions
