New Haitian Air Carrier Plans Port-au-Prince Hub

Sunrise Airways, a new start-up airline based in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, plans to expand its route network in 2013, launching new services to Kingston, Jamaica, and Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, as first steps toward establishing a hub in Port-au-Prince to better serve air travel needs within the Western Caribbean.

Sunrise currently serves domestic routes within Haiti, operating 19-seat Jetstream 32 EP aircraft manufactured by BAE Systems.

“While the Eastern Caribbean has long been well-served by hub operations in San Juan, we here in the west have generally been forced to endure lengthy connections outside the region,” said Philippe Bayard, president of Sunrise Airways. “Sunrise Airways aims to change the old paradigm, creating enhanced, more efficient air service options for business and leisure travellers in our corner of the region, while also boosting business development and tourism prospects here in Haiti.”

Sunrise Airways, founded in 2010, is an airline in Haiti that now provides commercial and charter flights. Sunrise Airways specializes in passenger charters, ad-hoc charter flights, chains of charter flights, and wet lease of its aircraft. February, 2011 Sunrise Airways officially opened its doors for scheduled flights between Port-au-Prince and Jacmel in Haiti offering passenger, cargo and mail services.

As of July 2011, all scheduled flights had stopped and the airline operated only on a charter basis. On December 20th 2012 they began to offer two daily commercial flights between Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien.