More airline problems - Insel & InterCaribbean

[Kharon]

The past couple of weeks have been difficult for InselAir. Maintenance on its single remaining plane caused a four-day suspension of service. And the negotiations between itself and InterCaribbean Airlines moved from the negotiating table to the courtroom. The InselAir bankruptcy trustee placed a lien on the fuel aboard one of Inter-Caribbeans aircraft in St. Maarten to assure payment of a $500,000 guarantee, effectively grounding it. Consequently relations between the airlines about the takeover of InselAir by InterCaribbean have ground to a halt.

 

[chiggins]

Hopefully Divi, EZ, and Aruba air can add some capacity without raising fares too much between the islands. Bonaire will never support the flight frequency and number of destinations that Aruba currently offers. The tradeoff is airfare from the US always seems to be 3-4x higher (at least from the upper midwest) to BON vs AUA and I have found that it can be cheaper to take the hop between islands on a separate ticket if you accept the risks. (Insel appeared to be a much bigger risk for cancellations and delays from my limited observations)
Any news or experiences with EZ Air? Still cant book from their website or even get a schedule.

 

[tkaelin]

Do not fly insel. Period.

 

[Compressor]

Its sad but getting to Bonaire is always an issue.

 

[tkaelin]

Its sad but getting to Bonaire is always an issue.

Not true, at least flying out of NYC. We picked Bon for our trip in 2009 because there was a great nonstop flight from JFK for about $350. We returned the next year and it was about $450. This flight went away and our only choice was the redeye out of Newark. We did this two more times but when the air became $650+ we moved our trips elsewhere. I was just in our LDS and talking trips and they mentioned that Bon is become a big problem with air $1k+ depending on the time of year. Hard to justify when I can get to GCM or CUR for $350 sometimes less. I know the Bon diehards justify the exhoribant air by believing the rest of the Bon trip is affordable and while that is true especially when compared to say GCM, I find CUR is just as affordable if not more so than Bon. Waiting for JetBlue to enter the Bon market.

 

[Ray and Pam]

Almost makes me wish we lived in Miami, $84 one way MIA-BON on Mon, Wed and Fri thru May 2019.

 

[Compressor]

Not true, at least flying out of NYC.

True for your location. From mine, there are 2 flights/week otherwise I have to go thru loops to get there.

 

[boat sju]

True for your location.

10 years ago.

Almost makes me wish we lived in Miami, $84 one way MIA-BON on Mon, Wed and Fri thru May 2019.

What airline is that? I can get to Miami.

 

[seaseadee]

American has service currently Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday. I just checked and you can fly MIA-BON Monday March 25 - Saturday April 1 for $279 Economy (Basic Economy is $219). I'm not sure if the frequency is seasonal though.

 

[Jeyna]

The past couple of weeks have been difficult for InselAir. Maintenance on its single remaining plane caused a four-day suspension of service. And the negotiations between itself and InterCaribbean Airlines moved from the negotiating table to the courtroom. The InselAir bankruptcy trustee placed a lien on the fuel aboard one of Inter-Caribbeans aircraft in St. Maarten to assure payment of a $500,000 guarantee, effectively grounding it. Consequently relations between the airlines about the takeover of InselAir by InterCaribbean have ground to a halt.

Where are you getting this information? I've been watching for news but found nothing. Can you post a link to your source?