Cape Air (9K, Hyannis) has filed an objection to Caribbean Airlines' application for expanded traffic rights in the Caribbean, specifically to enter the San Juan Luis Muñoz Marin, Puerto Rico to Tortola, British Virgin Islands market.
In its application, the Trinidadian carrier identified Beef Island as a point not served by any US carrier. However, Cape Air said in its filing with the US Department of Transportation (DOT) that it has been running the San Juan-Beef Island route since 1999 and is the largest airline in the market. According to the ch-aviation schedules module, it plans to operate this sector 41x weekly during the Summer 2020 season (notwithstanding the possible impact of the COVID-19 pandemic), using both BN-2s and Cessna (twin turboprop) C208B Grand Caravans.
Cape Air said that Seaborne Virgin Islands (San Juan Luis Muñoz Marin) also serves the route as a US-flagged airline. In fact, ch-aviation schedules indicate that besides Seaborne Airlines, its mainland-based parent Silver Airways (3M, Fort Lauderdale International) also operates the route, as well as another US-flagged, Puerto Rico-based carrier Air Sunshine (RSI, San Juan Luis Muñoz Marin).
"Therefore Caribbean Airlines' rationale for incremental exemption authority is predicated on grounds that are fundamentally untrue. Further, permitting entrance of a third-country airline in a market that has been painstakingly cultivated and invested in by Cape Air and other U.S. carriers would undermine the rationale for future investments in air service," Cape Air said.
The airline added that recent traffic figures suggested that the market was not capacity-restricted with an average load factor of 57%.
Caribbean Airlines is seeking to expand its 5th freedom rights in the Caribbean to launch additional island-hopper flights connecting Port of Spain with San Juan via numerous points in the Caribbean later this year.
