Ms Vidji Virdol, Marketing Manager at Haitian aviation company Sunrise Airways, sat down with Ercil Charles of ABS-Antigua to discuss the progress of the airline’s services since it introduced operations to the Eastern Caribbean in May 2024.
Sunrise Airways was forced to open a new office in Antigua due to the growing unrest in Haiti. Virdol acknowledged the challenges but shared that significant progress has been made with the support of Caribbean Governments.
“Well, it’s been challenging for us to start because, you know, we were getting through the crisis in Haiti. So we had to shut down all our activities at the last moment, from late February and from one day to the other, we received our authorization to come and fly here. So we had to change all our systems and get ready to fly, but nothing was ready. Nothing was ordered strategically. We just had to go and make it happen. Thanks to God, everything went well because all the Caribbean people helped us very well. They helped us to launch and to do all the integral flights in a smooth way.”
Virdol added, “All the governments have been very keen to help us to launch (thanks for that), to let the Caribbean people know about us because they were not trusting the fact that we were from Haiti with all the things that are happening… Thanks to the trust. Now we’re getting more and more people on the flights. The load factors are getting better, and we hope to have all the Caribbean with us on board.”
Virdol said Antigua was the chosen destination for Sunrise Airways’ new base because it is a great hub for connectivity and technical maintenance needs, and the business received great deals to be in Antigua.
Sunrise’s marketing manager said the airline is still adapting to the regional market and is trying to fulfill the expectations of the Caribbean people.
Sunrise Airways currently services the islands of Antigua, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Dominica, St. Maarten and Tortola through its partnership with Winair. Other destinations include Haiti, Cuba, Panama, Miami, and the Dominican Republic, another Sunrise Airways base.
Discussions are currently underway to introduce operations to Barbados and Guadeloupe.
One of the airline’s goals is to introduce cargo transportation services throughout the Caribbean.
