Air Caribbean was an airline that served from Isla Verde International Airport, in San Juan. The 1970s and 1980s were decades when several Puerto Rican airlines existed and competed against each other, including Prinair,

Vieques Air Link Vieques Air Link (VAL, IATA code:V4) is a small Puerto Rico-based airline that links Vieques with Culebra and mainland Puerto Rico. History Operations began during 1965, with owner Osvaldo "Val" Gonzalez-Duriex piloting a plane with thre ...

and

Dorado Wings Dorado Wings was a small commuter airline that operated from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico to Dorado Airport in the tourist center of Dorado, Puerto Rico. Dorado Wings was the only commercial operator at Do ...

. Believing a share of the market profits could be gained, Air Caribbean was created in 1975. There was one thread in common between Puerto Rican airlines of the time: Since at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport they would face tough, jet competition from major airlines (such as American,

Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global a ...

British Caledonian British Caledonian (BCal) was a British private independent airline which operated out of Gatwick Airport in south-east England during the 1970s and 1980s. It was created as an alternative to the British government-controlled corporation airlin ...

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

, Lufthansa, Mexicana and

Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

, to name a few) shall they try to offer jet services to further away cities, they would have faced economical problems. Most of them (except Prinair, which actually had a service to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

for a short period of time), stuck to routes around the Caribbean. Air Caribbean was not the exception. The airline used

DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

aircraft from its beginnings, to nearby Caribbean islands, and to

Rafael Hernández Airport Rafael Hernández International Airport ( es, link=no, Aeropuerto Internacional Rafael Hernández) is a joint civil-military airport located in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. It is named after the Puerto Rican composer Rafael Hernández Marín. It is ...

Aguadilla Aguadilla (, ), founded in 1775 by Luis de Córdova, is a city and municipality located in the northwestern tip of Puerto Rico, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, north of Aguada, and Moca and west of Isabela. Aguadilla i ...

. The airline also used leased

Beech 18 The Beechcraft Model 18 (or "Twin Beech", as it is also known) is a 6- to 11-seat, twin-engined, low-wing, tailwheel light aircraft manufactured by the Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. Continuously produced from 1937 to November ...

airplanes. The airline was prominent for some time among Puerto Rican travellers and American tourists, as it provided, with Prinair, the only two commercial air services to Aguadilla and easier access to nearby Quebradillas. The 1970s, as it is widely known, were difficult times for airlines because of the oil crisis (

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

and

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

) and deregulation of the industry in the U.S. In addition, another competitor, Aero Virgin Islands from the U.S. Virgin Islands, proved an impossible obstacle to overcome for Air Caribbean. In 1979, the airline had its last flight. Aero Virgin Islands also outlasted Prinair; out of the aforementioned Caribbean airlines, the only ones still providing service are Prinair and Vieques Air Link, with Prinair having restarted services during 2019.

Accidents and incidents

*On September 26, 1978, at 18:45 local time, a

, leased by Air Caribbean, tried to land at Isla Verde Airport in San Juan after a domestic flight, flight 309, from what was then known as Ramey base airport in Aguadilla when it crashed near

Residencial Las Casas Residencial Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas, more commonly known as Residencial Las Casas, Caserio Las Casas or Las Casas, is a public housing complex located in San Juan, Puerto Rico consisting of 417 housing units. It is under the management of the ...

instead, killing all six occupants in the airplane and injuring several occupants of a bar, including local mechanic Luciano Rivera. Wake turbulence from an

Eastern Airlines Eastern Air Lines, also colloquially known as Eastern, was a major United States airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Ea ...

L-1011 was found to be the cause of this crash, but the accident nevertheless led to the general public losing some trust on the airline.

References

Defunct airlines of Puerto Rico Airlines established in 1975 Airlines disestablished in 1979 1975 establishments in Puerto Rico {{US-airline-stub

Accidents and incidents

See also

References