From humble beginnings in Turks and Caicos, interCaribbean Airways has grown its presence significantly across the Caribbean with its three strategic hubs in Barbados, the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos. Over the last decade, they have grown their fleet significantly, taking on eight ATR 42-500s with one more pending delivery.

Even though the ATRs were used initially to replace their much older Embraer EMB 120s, they’ve gone well beyond simply replacing aircraft, adding a more cities across the Eastern and Southern Caribbean.

In May 2025, the carrier also announced plans to acquire eight Embraer E170 jets, each with 76 seats, to both replace their older E145s, and enter the U.S. market. Originally, the carrier planned to enter the United States in late 2025 from Providenciales, but it seems the process is taking a bit longer than expected.

Nonetheless, the airline is making progress in terms of building out its fleet as it has acquired at least three used E170s. VQ-TCI and VQ-TNS are just about 17 years old each, and originally flew for EgyptAir starting in 2009. There is also a third E170 registered VQ-TAS, but I haven’t been able to find any information about this aircraft yet.

The E170s have much more range compared to the E145s, allowing the airline to easily penetrate new destinations as far as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Canada. interCaribbean is also considering flying to destinations across Central America, but has so far declined to say where exactly they have in mind.

This is a major contrast to Trinidad and Tobago’s Caribbean Airlines which has been forced to downsize following less than optimal performance over the past 10 years. Following the pandemic, Caribbean Airlines grew its ATR fleet, and even leased an older Boeing 737-800 hoping to build more presence within the Caribbean, adding flights to a number of islands within the Eastern Caribbean, as well as increasing operations out of Jamaica.

caribbean airlines max 8 9y cal 02
Credit: Bradley Wint/Gate Checked

Some of these routes did not deliver as expected, and they were forced to trim flights between Jamaica and Ft. Lauderdale, as well as all its flights to Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands. What’s also notable is that while interCaribbean airlines has managed to place more routes in Barbados, Caribbean Airlines has done the opposite, shutting down its crew base on the island.

Caribbean’s plans seem to be shifting as they were originally exploring the possibility of adding Embraer E175 jets to its fleet, but instead, they’ve pulled the Boeing 737-800 from service and will retire two ATR 72-600s to cut back on unnecessary expenditure.

It is understood that two more Boeing 737 MAX 8s will join the fleet in 2026, but it’s not clear whether these will be used to support existing routes, or facilitate longer term plans to enter new and more distant markets in the Americas.  

Sign up for the free Gate Checked newsletter here sent three times weekly.
Google Add as preferred source on Google WhatsApp Follow on WhatsApp