Air Jamaica president Mike Conway. - File Mike Conway, president of Air Jamaica, says the two A340 planes that service the London route, will be returned to lessor, Airbus, in October, around the time that Virgin Atlantic takes control and launches its new flights between Norman Manley International and Gatwick.
Air Jamaica sold its rights to the London route to Sir Richard Branson's airline for an undisclosed sum, under a codeshare arrangement.
On Tuesday, British Airways issued a vague statement indicating it was crushed by Air Jamaica's deal with Virgin, despite its 60 years of "loyal and committed" service here and having maintained operations "through the good times and the bad."
Pressed by Wednesday Business for a clearer comment, BA suggested it would likely rethink certain plans to grow its market here.
"Gatwick to Kingston was not performing as well as we would like," said country commercial manager Diane Corrie, "and we would have to consider all our options in light of the Jamaican Government's decision.
In its statement, BA had signalled it was prepared to develop its services if it were selcted as Air Jamaica's partner.
"We were keen to work with the Jamaican Government and Air Jamaica to develop our services further," it said.
"A decision in our favour would have helped British Airways build a more sustainable business from Jamaica for both the airline and the Jamaican economy."
Yesterday, informed sources told Wednesday Business that the airline, which flies only to Kingston, had planned to expand the service to Montego Bay as part of the deal, but said those plans would likely be scuttled as they "would not be viable without the codeshare."
Conway has said, in choosing Virgin, Air Jamaica simply made the better choice for Jamaica and the airline.
They entered the arrangement to stem the more than J$1.8 billion (US$27 million) that the national carrier was haemorrhaging amid total losses estimated this year at US$64 million.
A year ago, those losses were estimated at US$25 million, when the airline had bled US$129 million, but with oil prices still rising in a volatile market derailed frequently by oil- worker kidnappings and failed infrastructure, Conway said the airline was projecting a US$30 million loss on London next year, if it were to maintain service.
The Air J president told Wednesday Business that dropping the long-haul route would not impact plans to reshape Air Jamaica's fleet, which currently comprises some eight A320s and six A321s and two A340s.
"None of this," he said, referring to the airline's exit from the European market, "has anything to do with that."
Air Jamaica's lease costs are projected at US$82.3 million (J$5.7 billion) this year, up 17 per cent, from the flat US$70 million over the past two years, according to Finance ministry data.
Conway and airline chairman OK Melhado have been in negotiations with Boeing to replace the Airbus planes with American made craft.
It was reported initially that Air Jamaica was considering a full reshaping of the fleet, but yesterday Conway told Wednesday Business that the plan now was to replace six A321s with six Boeing 757-200s, under lease.
That, along with the planned cancellation of the A340 contracts, suggests that Air Jamaica will continue for now to operate both the European and American carriers in its more than 20 markets in North America and the Caribbean, with Airbus craft dominating the fleet by seven or eight to Boeing's six.
The airline executive refused however to disclose the cost of the new lease agreement.
Virgin is expected to service Kingston with a 451-seater Boeing 747-400, in process doubling its seats to Jamaica to 190,000.
The United Kingdom-based airline currently flies twice weekly into Sangster's International in Montego Bay.
lavern.clarke@gleanerjm.com
