As the Caribbean`s newest airline approaches its second year in the skies, its latest figures show a significant growth in market share of the region`s travel industry.

Caribbean Star now flies to 14 beautiful Caribbean destinations including Guyana South America and while its capacity has only increased by 50%, CEO Paul Moreira announced this week that the airline has shown tremendous growth in all areas of its operat ions and matches it competition wing-to-wing.

The greatest increase over the last 18 months was the 1000% increase in charter operations and the 200% increase experienced by the Cargo department in 2002. Its sector passengers increased by more than 100% during July over the same period last year.

The figures show that in the month just ended, Caribbean Star lifted more than 60,000 passengers on all it sectors compared to the 30,000 in July 2001. Moreira said, “this clearly shows that this strategic growth has paid dividends for both the company and the passenger.”

In other areas of performance Caribbean Star has been a shining example of efficiency and reliability. Its On Time Performance was put to the test earlier this year when the airline boldly launched a campaign inviting passengers to challenge them to de part and arrive promptly. The campaign was the talk of the airline industry as Star offered free tickets to passengers who experienced more than a 30-minute delay. The end result was an increased On Time Performance to 95% by the end of the campaign.

The CEO says that this kind of achievement would not have been possible without the dedication and hard work of its 200 employees and the support of its loyal passengers. “It has created confidence in the management team and board to continue this stra tegic growth.”

The Antigua-based airline recently increased its fleet to 9 Dash-8 aircraft and since January 2002 has added 4 new destinations - Tobago, Nevis, Guyana and St Maarten. It is young, dynamic and innovative and given the statistics for August so far, it i s anticipated that it would even be better than July.

For more information on Caribbean Star`s products, schedules and fares log on to www.flycaribbeanstar.com and discover a whole new altitude.

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