Air Jamaica Express was an

airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in which ...

based in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

, which, before folding, operated as a subsidiary of

Air Jamaica Air Jamaica was the national airline of Jamaica. It was owned and operated by Caribbean Airlines from May 2011 until the cessation of operations in 2015. Caribbean Airlines Limited, headquartered in Piarco, Trinidad and Tobago, had administrati ...

. It operated domestic and inter-island scheduled flights and charter services. The airline was established in 1973 as Jamaica Air Taxi, and later operated as Trans-Jamaican Airlines until it was taken over by business man

Gordon "Butch" Stewart Gordon Arthur Cyril "Butch" Stewart OJ CD (6 July 1941 – 4 January 2021) was a Jamaican hotelier and businessman. He was the founder, owner, and chairman of Sandals Resorts, Beaches Resorts, and their parent company Sandals Resorts Inte ...

, who also controlled Air Jamaica in 1994. When Air Jamaica was renationalized in December 2004, responsibility for Air Jamaica Express remained with Stewart and his organization. The airline struggled financially and after attempts to reorganize and secure additional capital were unsuccessful, the airline ceased operations on October 14, 2005. The JQ code assigned by the IATA was later reassigned to

Jetstar Airways Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd, operating as Jetstar, is an Australian low-cost airline (self-described as "value-based") headquartered in Melbourne. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas, created in response to the threat posed by airline Virgin ...

Services

In 2002, Air Jamaica Express served the following destinations: Prior to Air Jamaica Express, predecessor air carrier Trans-Jamaican Airlines was operating

ATR 42 The ATR 42 is a regional airliner produced by Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR, with final assembly in Toulouse, France. On 4 November 1981, the aircraft was launched with ATR, as a joint venture between French Aérospatiale (now Airbus) a ...

turboprop service on a routing of Montego Bay - Kingston - Grand Cayman -

Belize City, Belize Belize City is the largest city in Belize and was once the capital of the former British Honduras. According to the 2010 census, Belize City has a population of 57,169 people in 16,162 households. It is at the mouth of the Haulover Creek, ...

- Cancun, Mexico twice a week in 1994.Sept. 15, 1994 OAG Desk Top Flight Guide, North American Edition

Fleet

In 2002, Air Jamaica Express was operating the following twin turboprop aircraft types: The airline also previously operated

Short 360 The Short 360 (also SD3-60; also Shorts 360)Mondey, David. ''Encyclopedia of the World's Commercial and Private Aircraft''. New York: Crescent Books, 1981. , p. 228. is a commuter aircraft that was built by UK manufacturer Short Brothers during ...

turboprop aircraft and

Dornier 228 The Dornier 228 is a twin- turboprop STOL utility aircraft, designed and first manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 until 1998. Two hundred and forty-five were built in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. In ...

aircraft as well as the following

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a conventional fixed-wing aircraft that has short runway requirements for takeoff and landing. Many STOL-designed aircraft also feature various arrangements for use on airstrips with harsh conditio ...

capable piston engine prop aircraft during its existence: *

Britten-Norman Islander The Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander is a British light utility aircraft and regional airliner designed and originally manufactured by Britten-Norman of the United Kingdom. Still in production, the Islander is one of the best-selling commercial ai ...

Britten-Norman Trislander The Britten-Norman Trislander (more formally designated the BN-2A Mk III Trislander) is an 18-seat three-engined piston-powered civilian utility aircraft produced in the 1970s and early 1980s by Britten-Norman of Britain. These STOL capable a ...

In addition, predecessor air carrier Trans-Jamaican Airlines operated

turboprop aircraft.

References

{{Portalbar, Jamaica, Caribbean, Companies, Aviation Defunct airlines of Jamaica Airlines established in 1995 Airlines disestablished in 2005 Companies based in Kingston, Jamaica