In conversation with Trevor Sadler, CEO, InterCaribbean Airways

INTERVIEW - InterCaribbean CEO Trevor Sadler

CAPA - Centre for Aviation asked InterCaribbean's CEO Trevor Sadler to share his views on regional connectivity in the Caribbean.

How does InterCaribbean see regional connectivity evolving in the Caribbean?

"InterCaribbean began creating a connected Caribbean over 10 years ago, and has grown to have the most expansive network across the region. With the creation of connecting the region, the volume of tourists between points has grown substantially.

This bodes well for repeat travellers who see the chance to return to visit their favourite island and be able to visit a second because connectivity is there.

While LIAT in the past provided such service in the Eastern Caribbean, it is InterCaribbean that is connecting the whole Caribbean. With several new destinations in the works, we will be expanding our footprint to create even greater connectivity."

Do you think progress is being made to convince governments to examine the levels of taxation on airfares?

"Taxes[,] and/or imposed fees[,] continue to be added rather [than] consideration of any reduction tied to increased volumes of travellers. Many countries are boasting of most travellers ever. But the taxes revenue is not used for airport maintenance purposes, so it simply becomes treasury funds.

The highest fees applied in one country that we serve is now USD150 (in and out taxes). When connecting that country to the second highest via a third transit country, that country imposes USD80 intransit fees on a round trip, you now have a taxes due bill of nearly USD320."

"This is the taxes only. Not one dollar of airfare. In Europe you may be able to fly a family of four on an LCC for that number for a one-hour flight.

We are not the highest income earning region, so the imposition of these taxes and fees make it an even greater burden for people of the region to fly more, it's simply not affordable."

How are the four ATR turboprops performing for InterCaribbean, and when will the remaining aircraft join the airline's fleet?

"Presently we have fly 3 x ATR42 and 1 x ATR72. We have six more all in maintenance facilities being readied, so in the coming months our live fleet will reach 10 flying ATRs.

The aircraft have definitely given us capacity expansion and greater customer comfort onboard."

What are the most significant network opportunities for the airline?

"We will be announcing new destinations that we are sure are going to be "go to destinations" in our region, while fuelling even greater capacity and connective options for travellers coming into our region, and finding that our network is a great way to arrive at one end of the Caribbean, and depart on the other side of the region.

Some of this will be historic[ally] 'never connected before' cities."

How would you describe the recovery in traffic within the Caribbean?

"Each year we have grown our business, and with the advent of COVID, like most businesses very worried about the impact on travel[,] as some countries decided to shut down for nearly a year.

While all predictions suggested recovery for the region, the Caribbean as a whole has been a great beneficiary. Some destinations created great difficulty and cost to enter, that drove North America to vacation closer to home.

Closer to home is the Caribbean. The countries that had the least onerous entry benefited greatly. In 2023[,] and now in 2024, the demand for flights to the region has seen a lot of new routes being launched.

A generally healthy economy globally fuelled the demand, and we are seeing countries in our region announcing record number of arrivals. New hotels continue to open to add to a fresh supply of options, and some countries have a lot of new hotel stock in construction.

All of this is fuelling international arrivals. With some companies placing emphasis on dual destination travel, we hope to see an increase in that regional traffic."

Trevor Sadler, CEO, interCariibbean will be among the speakers at the forthcoming CAPA Airline Leader Summit Latin America & Caribbean 2024 which will take place in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on 22-23-Aug-2024. The CAPA Airline Leader Summit Latin America & Caribbean is a cornerstone event in CAPA's series of regional aviation summits for 2024, providing attendees with a unique window and informed content, which will examine the future of aviation. Few regions have seen travel bounce back from the pandemic in the way that Latin America and the Caribbean have. Despite this positive momentum for travel, regional profitability remains elusive, and performance varies substantially from market to market. The agenda for the event will cover the most important issues shaping aviation in the region. These include: the outlook for airline restructuring and financing; mergers & consolidation along with market exits and new start-ups; financing and constraints of regional infrastructure; domestic and international tourism outlook; regional efforts towards aviation sustainability.