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Air Jamaica May Become Spirit Of Jamaica

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By Melanie Reffes

According to published reports in the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper, the owners of Spirit Airlines have bought the national carrier, Air Jamaica.

It was further reported that Air Jamaica’s name might be changed to Spirit of Jamaica. The comment from Spirit this morning is, “We do not comment on market rumors.”

Spirit recently announced completion of a strategic investment, led by Indigo Partners LLC with funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management LLC. The investment reportedly will provide significant resources for the company to consolidate its position as the leading low-cost carrier to the Caribbean.

Year to date, Air Jamaica reported an operating loss of $63.51 million on revenues of $293.27 million, considerably better than last year’s performance that saw the airline reporting an operating loss of $162.43 million on revenues of $350.98 million.

Indigo Partners LLC, with offices in Phoenix and Singapore, is a private-equity fund focused primarily on investing in the transportation, airline and airline-related sectors globally. Oaktree Capital Management LLC is a Los Angeles-based private investment firm that manages in excess of $30 billion in select niche investment markets for institutions and wealthy individuals.

Miramar, Fla.-based Spirit flies to 36 cities in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean. Both Spirit and Air Jamaica have all-Airbus fleets.

Just last week, reports from Jamaica were that tour operator Thomas Cook and Caribbean Airlines were the only bidders for the airline. See a related blog post at www.aviationweek.com/wings.

Photo: Airbus





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