XL Airways has warned agents not to hang their hopes on the company reinstating its cancelled Caribbean programme.
The airline has initially announced it will cancel all winter flights to the destination from the start of November. The move will see the end of the airline’s charter flights to St Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados and Grenada.
In a statement the airline blamed the decision on soaring oil costs and the falling popularity of certain transatlantic routes. It added it will instead focus on its more profitable long haul Florida services as well as its core short and medium haul markets.
Now sister company Freedom Flights sales and marketing director Phil Norris is warning agents that the programme is unlikely to be resumed any time soon.
He said: “These decisions are never taken lightly as we’ve worked hard to set the routes up.
“We would never say never but I think it would be wrong to say we hope to reintroduce them [the routes] soon. We don’t want to put any high hopes into agents’ heads that they will be reintroduced.”
XL Airways is advising customers booked with these flights during this time to contact their travel agent.