Haiti’s Sunrise Airways expands to eastern Caribbean; regional airline prepares relaunch

Haiti’s family-owned Sunrise Airways is headed east. The carrier, which currently offers the only commercial service between Haiti and Miami with flights out of the international airport in Cap-Haïtien amid the country’s ongoing gang-fueled turmoil, is expanding to the eastern Caribbean.

As of May 25, the airline will be operating commercial flights on a 30-seat twin-turboprop aircraft in between the island nations of Antigua and Barbuda, St. Lucia, Dominica and St. Kitts and Nevis. The move marks the airline’s largest expansion yet.

In recent months, Sunrise Airways has expanded its operations with daily flight service between the cities of Cap-Haïtien and Les Cayes in Haiti. Months earlier, the company announced its entrance into the Miami market with new service between Miami International Airport and Hugo Chavez International Airport in Cap-Haïtien and Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital.

While the violence in Port-au-Prince continues to affect both international and domestic operations— flights have been suspended since March 4 — the airline has been focusing efforts on its expansion, connecting travelers between Cap-Haïtien, St. Maarten and Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe. Other international routes include Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

“All of us at Sunrise Airways have cherished each new route that we’ve inaugurated over the 12-year history of our airline,” said CEO and chairman Philippe Bayard. “This latest expansion, though, is extra special as it brings the mission we started in the western Caribbean, to better connect our islands under our One Caribbean concept, to the eastern Caribbean in the biggest way yet.”

Bayard said “it’s truly the dawn of a new day for intra-regional air travel within the eastern Caribbean.”

In January, longtime regional carrier Leeward Islands Air Transportation Limited, known as LIAT, signed off for a last time, ending an era with its final flight across the eastern Caribbean as it took off from Antigua’s V.C. Bird International Airport in St. John’s for a final time. The airline’s end came after years of financial turbulence and unsuccessful attempts by governments in the region to keep the carrier afloat. The airline was owned by the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

In late December, the airline’s court-appointed administrator, Cleveland Seaforth, announced that the final flight would be late January and as of Feb. 4 employees would be out of a job.

In the wake of LIAT’s bankruptcy, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browned announced a new, revamped LIAT 2020. It’s a joint venture involving the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines and Air Peace, a private Nigerian airline.

Browne recently announced that the airline is expected to start flying soon, with the company’s jets currently undergoing testing.

Bayard, who has been trying to expand his operations out of Haiti for years, says he’s aware of the risks of operating an airline in today’s climate, but sees opportunity in a region where inter-connectivity between islands remains difficult.

The new Sunrise Airways flights within the eastern Caribbean will operate every day except Tuesday, and will offer two daily connections between Antigua–Dominica and Antigua–St. Kitts, while Antigua–St. Lucia service will operate once daily.

“With two rotations per day, our new Antigua, Dominica, and St. Kitts flights offer travelers in those markets tremendous flexibility,” he said. “At the same time, our new Antigua–St. Lucia service stands out as the only direct flight connecting two of the Caribbean’s most popular tourist destinations.”