AA introduces new plane for Barbados route
A new, state-of-the-art American Airlines aircraft is now coming to the island.
American Airlines began operating its flights between Grantley Adams International Airport and Miami International Airport with the new Airbus A321S yesterday.
The plane has 16 seats in First Class and 165 seats in the Main Cabin and offers amenities such as free in-seat entertainment throughout the aircraft, as well as AC/USB power ports in every seat.
“The American Airlines team in Barbados looks forward to welcoming our customers on-board our new A321S aircraft. This now offers our customers in Barbados with an improved and more modern travel experience,” AA’s General Manager Jennifer Carter said during a welcoming ceremony at the airport yesterday afternoon.
Also on hand for the inaugural flight was Captain Basil Lowe, who landed the plane in Barbados. Originally from Superlative, St George, Captain Lowe attended flight school through a scholarship from the Barbados Ministry of Civil Aviation.
“June 1 marks my 37th year in the airline industry and more than 17 years since joining American Airlines. It gives me great pleasure to inaugurate this new aircraft to a country I’m proud to be from – beautiful Barbados,” Captain Lowe said.
American Airlines is in the midst of a historic fleet renewal programme that includes spending $4.1 billion on new aircraft this year alone. In 2016 the airline invested approximately $4.4 billion in new planes, including 55 new mainline and 42 new regional aircraft.
Since 2013, the airline has taken delivery of more than 300 new aircraft, lowering the average fleet age to ten years.
The airline, which has served Barbados for almost 42 years, currently offers two daily flights to Miami and one weekly flight to Charlotte Douglas International Airport, in Charlotte North Carolina. There are more than 50 locally-based team members on the island.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc, Alvin Jemmott, who delivered remarks on behalf of Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Richard Sealy, said the airline provided over 100 000 passengers to the island annually.
“We certainly want to congratulate American Airlines on this milestone and thank them for the collaboration we’ve had over this period of time. When you started service in 1975, that first service to Barbados flew out of New York and ever since then we’ve had growth.
“We expanded the service into San Juan and by 1997 we started the service out of Miami, now we have the two flights a day out of Miami and this certainly helped us in our journey and our oath to growth here in Barbados.
“I recall well that in 2014, we did 118, 000 passengers to Barbados and that grew to 148 000 by 2015, and by 2016 we have gone to 168 000 passengers and that is no small feat. So we say thank you,” Jemmott said. (AH)