By LCN Business Desk
The flag carrier of Trinidad and Tobago is adding three international services inside fifteen weeks, and the most consequential of them is the one that restores a flight to Venezuela.
Caribbean Airlines will resume commercial passenger service between Trinidad and Caracas on 31 October, described in its own release as restoring direct air connectivity between the two neighbouring countries and intended to facilitate business travel and tourism. The release does not state a frequency.
The Tobago to Toronto service begins on 25 October, weekly, on Sundays, to support family visits and tourism ahead of the peak winter travel season. The Trinidad to Panama charters run from 1 December 2026 to 9 February 2027 on selected Tuesdays and Fridays, timed across the Christmas and Carnival periods, to offer greater travel flexibility while supporting tourism and trade.
Nobody says so. The release carries no executive quotation and names no aircraft type. An airline opening three international connections in a quarter has put no one's name to the announcement.
Why does the Caracas flight matter more than the other two?
Because of where it sits.
Venezuela has spent the autumn working CARICOM capitals. La Caribeña News reported in September that Vice President Delcy Rodríguez had taken energy talks to three Community capitals in a short period. A resumed scheduled passenger service between Port of Spain and Caracas is the first piece of physical infrastructure to follow that diplomacy, and it is being restored by a state-owned airline rather than announced as policy.
The release frames it in the language of business travel and tourism. Those are the words an airline uses. The route is nonetheless a direct air link to a country under United States sanctions, resumed by the flag carrier of a CARICOM member state, and it opens on 31 October.
Is Tobago buying winter traffic the way other Caribbean second cities are?
It is, and the pattern is now visible across the region.
In September this newspaper reported that Puerto Plata had secured three winter routes, to Bogotá, Montreal and Toronto, as a Dominican second city competing directly for Canadian and Colombian winter traffic rather than waiting for its capital to supply it.
Tobago is doing the same thing on a smaller scale. One weekly Sunday non-stop to Toronto is not a hub strategy, but it is a second city with its own airport selling itself into the Canadian winter market under its own name rather than through Piarco. The season it targets, roughly late October to February, is the one Puerto Plata is targeting.
Guyana is attempting the same trick from the other direction and has not landed it. The Government said on 30 September that it was ready to finalise a deal for a major airline to use Cheddi Jagan International as a global hub, and named no airline.
What is the carrier's financial position while it expands?
Six years of audits are outstanding.
La Caribeña News reported on 23 September that Caribbean Airlines had completed three more audited years, 2017 to 2019, with six still not done. The published accounts therefore end seven years before the network the airline is now announcing.
That is not an allegation about the routes. It is the ordinary fact that a state-owned carrier is committing aircraft and crew to Toronto, Caracas and Panama City while the public cannot read what the last six years cost. Trinidad and Tobago is the majority owner. Jamaica holds the minority stake, which dates from the sale of Air Jamaica in 2011.
Which parts of this announcement are firm, and which are not?
Three services carry dates. Two more do not.
The Toronto, Caracas and Panama services each have a start date in the airline's release, carried the same way by PAX News, FlightGlobal, Open Jaw and the Guyana Chronicle.
Two further services have been reported only once. The account TTT Live Online reported Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Eli Zakour saying that Contour Airlines will begin twice-weekly flights between Dominica and Trinidad, and that Surinam Airways will begin twice-weekly flights between Suriname and Trinidad, both later this year. Neither carries a start date, and on the public record this newspaper can find, no other outlet has carried either claim. They are set out here as single-sourced and undated.
Senator Zakour has held the transport and civil aviation portfolio since May 2025 and is a licensed commercial pilot. Contour Aviation is a United States public-charter operator based in Tennessee. Surinam Airways is Suriname's flag carrier, founded in 1953.
What the title card shows
25 October 2026: the start of the weekly non-stop Tobago to Toronto service, operating Sundays, per Caribbean Airlines' release of 2 October 2026 as carried by CNC3. 31 October 2026: the resumption of commercial passenger service between Trinidad and Caracas, frequency not stated in the release. 1 December 2026 to 9 February 2027: the Trinidad to Panama charter window, on selected Tuesdays and Fridays. Six: audited years still outstanding at Caribbean Airlines, after 2017, 2018 and 2019 were completed, reported by La Caribeña News on 23 September 2026. Zero: executives quoted in the airline's release, and aircraft types named in it. Two: further services, Contour Airlines on Dominica to Trinidad and Surinam Airways on Suriname to Trinidad, reported once by TTT Live Online, twice weekly, with no start date.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the Tobago to Toronto flight start?
On 25 October 2026, weekly, operating on Sundays, as a non-stop service. Caribbean Airlines states the route is intended to support family visits and tourism ahead of the peak winter travel season.
When does the Trinidad to Caracas service resume?
On 31 October 2026. The airline describes it as restoring direct air connectivity between the two neighbouring countries, to facilitate business travel and tourism. The release does not state how many flights a week.
How long do the Panama charters run?
From 1 December 2026 to 9 February 2027, on selected Tuesdays and Fridays, covering the Christmas and Carnival periods.
How far behind are Caribbean Airlines' accounts?
Six audited years remain outstanding. The carrier completed 2017, 2018 and 2019, reported by La Caribeña News on 23 September 2026, so its published accounts end well before the network it is now announcing.
Are the Dominica and Suriname services confirmed?
Not on the same footing. They were reported once, by the account TTT Live Online, attributed to Minister Eli Zakour, as twice-weekly services beginning later this year. No start date was given and no other outlet in the route coverage carries them.