Air Jamaica Cuts Bonaire Route

[Tom Smedley]

From The Bonaire Reporter
Bulletin (May 12, 2005)– Air Jamaica announced today that it will cut, then suspend, service to/from Bonaire, (BON-MBJ). Concurrently, American Eagle will change its schedule to fly DAILY from San Juan beginning in July through September. The airline reservation system will reflect the change on May 17th. Air Jamaica will stop Bonaire service in two phases:
- Phase I – AJ flights 66/67 operating Wed., Thurs., and Sun. suspended as of Monday, June 27, 2005. Saturday flights continue.
- Phase II – All AJ service to/from Bonaire suspended as of August 28, 2005.
Air Jamaica customer service representatives are to contact passengers holding reservations to/from Bonaire during the affected periods

 

[SubMariner]

Yoiks! How we gonna get to Bonaire now?

 

[Natasha]

We need to move there so we don't have to worry about stuff like this. :winky:

 

[El Orans]

Anyone interested in direct flights from Amsterdam?

 

[Tom Smedley]

In March I was in queue beside an expat who had gained her resident status. She complained loudly that she felt trapped on the island because every plane reservation that she had made to go on holiday off Bonaire was either cancelled or the airline went bankrupt. So I guess it goes both ways.

The Bonaire Reporter has been doing a series of articles on the pros and cons of development and they have consilidated the articles in a single story that is very interesting reading. I had heard several years ago that an investment condo would not be good becuase it needs like 70% occupancy rate to break even. The average occupancy rate on Bonaire is less than 50%. Yet the airlines want a major hotel in order to bring flights in. Aruba fell for that and still ended up "guaranteeing seats" on the planes.

Anyway - for us Bonarian affectionados enjoy.

http://www.bonairereporter.com and follow the link.

We need to move there so we don't have to worry about stuff like this. :winky:

 

[Natasha]

Sad news all around. Thanks Tom..we do need to know..just don't know what the future holds for AJ.

 

[dannobee]

Yoiks! How we gonna get to Bonaire now?

Cruise ship?

 

[RICHinNC]

I have a thread where you write US Air and try to get them to do a leg there.....makes it more interesting now doesnt it???

 

[Scuba65]

I now hope that some other airline will take over that actually will get you there and back on time. AJ was terrible when I just traveled with them..going down wasn't too bad..but, coming back was a 12 hr. delay.

 

[diversteve]

Yoiks! How we gonna get to Bonaire now?

American/American Eagle thru San Juan. I seriously doubt anyone will pick up their routes, unless it's some regional carrier. I don't think the passenger load supports it.

Has anybody seen the BonairExel site lately? It appears that they've redone a lot of it, you can now book tickets thru any IATA travel agent etc. Although I thought I read that they were also having problems a couple months ago. Does anyone know their status? http://www.bonairexel.an/

There's always the Divi charter from Curacao...