In this context, Travel2latam spoke with Trevor Sandler, CEO of InterCaribbean Airways.
What do you think about your participation in this incredible exhibition?
WTM Latin America for us is the first time we come here to greet the public and share our Caribbean with them. And at the same time that we work to extend our connectivity to Latin America, it is the opportunity to meet many people who are interested in selling the Caribbean. If I have to measure the enthusiasm of all the people we've talked to, I think it's a good thing we were here.
Do you think you can move your network to a destination here?
The Caribbean is the closest geography, but also the most remote. When it comes to the possibility of most of Latin America coming to the Caribbean, it simply takes a long time. And as a consequence, time also costs. Our intention is to begin to open the doors that we can, within the framework of the types of airplanes that we fly to enter the Latin American markets and give them that maximum time of almost three, four, five hours from being at the airport to being in a hotel. in the destiny.
So there is a great possibility of opening the doors of opportunity to travelers in this region, particularly in Brazil, which of course is very close. We are in Guyana now, today, and the next country after that is Brazil. We can try to enter this market and provide new connectivity that simply does not exist today.
Can you remind us of your fleet, your roads and if you have any news to share?
Our network expands throughout the Caribbean. Currently twenty-seven destinations, sixteen countries. There are five more countries within the region that we intend to enter during the course of this year. And we will also seek to enter Latin America. Our fleet is also changing and evolving. As we add a fleet of eleven ATR aircraft, we will retire the previous ones, which will give us greater capacity. We are also in the process of adding a larger aircraft to give us much greater range capability in terms of what we can serve on routes across the region.
How is the demand at the moment?
Sometimes we experience what I call a happy problem and that is that we don't have seats. So, increasing capacity is something that is already underway. We are working to resolve and have an aircraft with greater range capacity that will give us entry to certain points in Latin America.
What will be your next step now that you are here exhibiting in Brazil?
We have already started the authorization process by enacting the civil aviation authority here in Brazil. But I would describe our consultations as very welcome, both speaking with civil aviation and, in turn, with the regional tourism bodies and different tour operators and agencies that have been present here at WTM here in Sao Paulo. I would describe their enthusiasm as very stimulating, and speaking to the travel sector that is fully present here, there is definitely a desire and a demand to create that connectivity with the Caribbean. So what we're actually hearing is people supporting our beliefs that we can work to make the Caribbean connect more easily with Latin America. And we plan to open some offices in some countries during this year or maybe next.