Sunrise Airways seeks regional partnerships

Sunrise Airways (S6, Port au Prince) President Philippe Bayard says the Haiti-based carrier is set to expand its regional Caribbean network coverage through partnerships with other regional operators.


In an interview with The Curacao Chronicle, Bayard said that under the One Caribbean initiative, talks with authorities in Cuba over an interline agreement with Cubana (CU, Havana Int'l) have already begun. In addition, Sunrise Airways has also signed a strategic partnership agreement with Curacao's insular (7I, Curacao) wherein the Haitians will operate Santo Domingo Las Américas - Curacao flights from July onwards. Insel Air will then offer onwards interline connectivity to the islands of Aruba and Bonaire.

Bayard said the partnerships would diminish Haiti's reliance on the United States for its Caribbean connectivity. However, he said that despite the anticipated uptick in flights, there are no plans, at present, to develop Port au Prince into a regional hub. Aside from the island's lack of infrastructure capable of handling increased traffic, Haiti is also handicapped by excessive taxation on tickets as well as very expensive jet fuel.




Sunrise Airways currently operates one A320-200, wet-leased from Global Aviation Operations (GE, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo), as well as handful of Jetstream 32s on scheduled passenger flights connecting Port au Prince with Cap Haitien locally as well as Santo Domingo La Isabela in the Dominican Republic, Havana Int'l, Camagüey, and Santiago de Cuba in Cuba, and Curacao.

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“In 2019, we have in plan to open Kingston Norman Manley in Jamaica, Santa Clara de Cuba and Holguin in Cuba, and continue to work with interlines and maybe codeshare agreements with some Caribbean airlines," Bayard said. "The network already exists, we need to make some approach with the existing carriers in the case of our project: One Caribbean."