Further to Hurricane Irene which affected New York operations from 27-28 August, Caribbean Airlines wishes to report that the airline has successfully transported an additional five thousand (5,000) passengers who were affected by the closure of JFK International Airport during that time. This closure of JFK International Airport caused the cancellation of thirty-four (34) Caribbean Airlines and Air Jamaica flights over those two days.

In the past four (4) days, the majority of Caribbean Airlines and Air Jamaica customers who were scheduled to travel to and from New York during the 27 and 28 August have been accommodated. Passengers were moved to and from New York from major Caribbean locations such as Kingston, Georgetown and Port of Spain. The airline also wishes to advise that the remaining passengers affected from the cancellations will be accommodated on a specially chartered service, scheduled to operate from Georgetown, Guyana. These 160 passengers will be transported on Saturday 3 September.

Caribbean Airlines and Air Jamaica published a travel policy for customers affected by Hurricane Irene. This policy can still be found on our website should any passengers require more information about our travel policies during that time. Whilst additional aircraft were leased throughout the entire four (4) day period to assist in the effort of moving the backlog of passengers to and from New York, both Caribbean Airlines and Air Jamaica continued to operate their regularly scheduled services in the midst of a summer super peak.

Caribbean Airlines understands the inconvenience experienced by customers during this past week, and despite the restrictions and pending approvals from authorities, worked with the resources at hand to be able to clear the backlog which was spread throughout its operation. We thank our loyal customers for their patience during the past week.