CAL's London service takes off Thursday

CAL's Boeing 767-300 aircraft

Caribbean Airlines (CAL) will inaugurate its direct service from Trinidad to the UK on Thursday with flight BW902 taking off from Piarco International Airport at 7.15 pm for Gatwick airport in London.

The airline is using a Boeing 767 aircraft for the service. Director General of Civil Aviation, Ramesh Lutchmedial, told local media routine checks have been done on the aircraft and some additional checks would be made before takeoff.

CAL is trying to rebuild the London service, which was discontinued by its predecessor company, BWIA. It expects to attract heavy traffic for the Olympics.

Opposition Leader Keith Rowley thinks the introduction of the service is a bad idea. "This is an ill-conceived expansion and it has no sustainable future," he told reporters. He suggested that the route would not be profitable.

CAL will be competing with British Airways, which offers a daily service from  Gatwick to Port of Spain with a stop-over in St Lucia.