By Jay Amberg Bloomberg Lifestyles. Thu, 24 May 2001,
11:43am EDT. Bloomberg.com
New York, May 24 -- British Airways Plc is expected to cancel service in
2002 to some of its Caribbean destinations, including Havana, according to the
New York-based U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council Inc.
In its weekly report on economic activity in Cuba, the council said besides
Cuba, British Airways is expected to cancel service to Montego Bay, Jamaica,
Cancun and Mexico, and the airline could cancel service to other Caribbean
countries.
British Airways spokeswoman Alison Rigby at Gatwick, U.K., confirmed the
cancellation of service to Havana, Montego Bay and Cancun in 2002.
"You have to put the British Airways decision into perspective because
the airline hasn't just singled out Cuba for its Caribbean cancellations,'' said
John S. Kavulich II, president of the trade council.
"Still, the cancellation of service between Gatwick and the city of
Havana is a tremendous loss in terms of the international credibility these
flights brought to Cuba,'' Kavulich said.
The British Airways flights are popular with U.K. businessmen involved in
the Cuban cigar trade, especially cigar merchants based in London, one of
Europe's centers for cigar commerce.
Kavulich said the airline's decision to cancel its Havana flights beginning
in March 2002 was made because the service to Cuba isn't making enough money,
attracting few first-class and business-class passengers.
"I can't confirm those are our reasons for the cancellation. Perhaps
this information came from our office in Havana,'' Rigby said.
"One of the reasons for the cancellation that I can confirm is that
British Airways has been reconfiguring its service in and out of Gatwick for
short haul service only and moving the long haul flights to Heathrow,'' she
said.
Rigby said British Airways has no plans at this time to switch the
Gatwick-Havana service to Heathrow.
According to the trade council, British Airways is trying to determine
whether the Cuban government-operated Empresa Cubana de Aeropuertos y Servicios
(ECASA) will reduce airport servicing fees, including landing fees, as
conditions for possibly continuing service to the island.
"I don't think this is just some bargaining chip the airline is using
to get better rates from Cuba,'' Kavulich said. "The fact of the matter is
they can't make money on this route or the others in the Caribbean, where
first-class and business-class ticket sales are low.''
British Airways inaugurated service to Cuba in April 1999.
In 2000, 90,000 U.K. nationals visited Cuba, compared with 80,000 in 1999,
60,000 in 1998 and 47,515 in 1997, according to figures complied by the trade
council.
"The decision by British Airways to cancel service to Cuba will affect
approximately 20 percent of U.K. nationals visiting Cuba,'' Kavulich said. "Approximately
80 percent of U.K. nationals visiting Cuba travel on charter aircraft.''
The trade council said Cuba's government-operated Cubana de Aviacon has
canceled weekly flights from Gatwick to Havana and has closed its office in
London.
Kavulich said the cancellation comes as no surprise because the Cuban
airline had received poor reviews for its service, flight delays, safety record
and reservations systems from U.K. consumers.
"The British Airways flights to Cuba did two things,'' Kavulich said. "The
flights provided the Republic of Cuba with new marketing opportunities and
enabled Cuba to expand its tourist industry to a low to medium demographic base
of tourists visiting the country.''
Kavulich said if British Airways drops the Havana flights in 2002, the only
regularly scheduled commercial flights by global carriers from Europe to Cuba
could be Paris-based Air France and Madrid-based Iberia Airlines.
The U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council is a private not-for- profit
organization in the U.S. that focuses on economic activity in Cuba.
Kavulich said the council doesn't take positions with respect to political
differences between the U.S. and Cuba.
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