In September, I talked about Caribbean Airlines leasing an older Boeing 737-800, a somewhat regressive step given that the carrier migrated to an all 737 MAX 8 fleet.
With production delays at Boeing preventing Caribbean Airlines from taking delivery of their last three MAX 8s in a timely manner, the carrier decided to dry-lease a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 from Macquarie AirFinance. Flown in as M-ABPP, the aircraft was re-registered 9Y-TTL and is being repainted in the new Caribbean Airlines livery, as well as going through the relevant outfitting works.
At the time it was rumored that the aircraft would operate out of Kingston (KIN), Jamaica, but there was no confirmation as to what destinations it would fly to. The airline has since cleared the air, announcing that it would be used to operate flights between Kingston and Fort Lauderdale (FLL).
All economy flights between Kingston and Fort Lauderdale
Starting in mid-December, the carrier will fly three times weekly on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays between Kingston and Fort Lauderdale.
In a statement, Garvin Medera, CEO of Caribbean Airlines, said:
“The return of service between Kingston and Fort Lauderdale is a direct response to our customers’ needs. At Caribbean Airlines, we are committed to connecting the Caribbean region more effectively, wherever resources allow, to ensure that our passengers have greater access to key destinations that are important to them.”
What’s most interesting about this aircraft is that has an all-economy configuration, unlike the rest of the fleet which has four rows of recliner-style business class seats.
From the search results, you’ll see the business class fares either being blocked off or not available at all.
Given that Fort Lauderdale tends to see more leisure and VFR traffic, it’s not surprising to see the carrier utilizing an all-economy layout rather than flying with empty business class seats.
With just three days covered in the week, I wonder where else the carrier plans to deploy this aircraft. Including Fort Lauderdale, Caribbean currently operates seven non-stop flights out of Kingston split across the Caribbean and North America. Maybe more capacity to the U.S., or resumption of Cayman Islands flights?
