Barbados-based airline REDjet, which calls itself the Caribbean’s first low-cost carrier, will begin operations on May 8 with flights from as low as $9.99 between Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana and possibly Trinidad and Tobago.

REDjet was founded by Irish businessman Robbie Burns, who is a former Digicel employee. Digicel, a mobile provider with over 10 million subscribers in the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific, was founded by another Irishman, Denis O’Brien, in 2001 and is based in Jamaica.

REDjet’s tilt at the regional market was met with apprehension by Jack Warner, Trinidad and Tobago Minister of Works and Transport and FIFA vice-president, who claimed that the airline did not have permission to operate in local airspace.

“I am not against competition but I don’t think that competition should be based on a degree of lawlessness,” said Warner. “To get in this country, you have to get consent from Civil Aviation and they did not get it.

“REDJet is aware that they haven’t got permission, and I am saying to you when they apply properly and if they get permission we shall see.”

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