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Sweet dreams of island-hopping around the Caribbean under sail have long been tempered by traditionally nightmarish intra-regional air service. Sure, everything’s great once you’re out at sea. But flight cancellations, delays, and excessive layovers too often conspire to take the wind out of your sails before you even climb aboard.
Sunrise Airways, one of the newest carriers to spread its wings in the Eastern Caribbean, is aiming to change all that.
The airline, which maintains operations bases in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Antigua, launched its first Eastern Caribbean routes in May 2024. The full history of the carrier, though, dates back to 2012.
At its start, Sunrise served domestic routes within Haiti, but its founder/chairman, noted Haitian businessman, philanthropist, and pilot, Philippe Bayard, always had much bigger plans.
“Everything we do centers on our One Caribbean philosophy,” notes Bayard. “More than an abstract feeling or loose brand positioning, One Caribbean guides and informs our mission to better connect the entire Caribbean region. North, south, east, west — all fully connected with timely and efficient flights facilitating a more robust cultural and commercial exchange.”
During the summer of 2025, Bayard’s One Caribbean Dream will take a large step forward. Starting in July, Sunrise Airways will launch its largest route expansion to date. New routes and service enhancements will boost connectivity across the region. Sunrise will also expand its North America gateways to include its first-ever flights connecting its Caribbean gateways with Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Montreal, Canada.
“From our perspective, One Caribbean also includes feeder markets outside of the region with strong socio-economic ties to our island states,” says Bayard. “This strategic vision brought us to Miami in 2023 and continues to inspire our further expansion into North America.”
For sailing enthusiasts in particular, the newly enhanced Sunrise Airways route network creates a wealth of attractive flight options. New service between Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic, and three of the Caribbean’s most desired yachting centers — Antigua, Tortola (British Virgin Islands), and Sint Maarten/Saint Martin — open new doors for travelers originating in North America, Central/South America, and Europe.
Sunrise Airways intra-regional flights further support the Caribbean marine industry with nonstop service connecting Tortola with Antigua, Saint Kitts, and Sint Maarten/Saint Martin. Enhanced connectivity to/from Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are included as well.
“As of this summer, our reach will extend to virtually every key yachting center in the Caribbean,” notes Claudio Buncamper, chief commercial officer for Sunrise Airways, adding that gateways outside of the Sunrise network will be accessible through the carrier as well.
“We have a number of interline partnership agreements either in place already or coming online soon that will further enable us to achieve our One Caribbean objectives,” Buncamper says.
When it comes to elevating Caribbean aviation to new heights, the sky is truly the limit for Sunrise Airways.
For schedules, reservations, and more information, please visit www.SunriseAirways.net.
