Startup Looks to Launch Fort Lauderdale-Barbados Service

Airone Ventures, a startup airline based in Barbados, plans to launch low-fare service within the Caribbean and between the U.S. and Barbados in February 2011, according to an application filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Initially, the network would include a daily nonstop between Fort Lauderdale and Barbados, using a 150-seat, all-economy MD-82 leased from Allegiant Air, a 10 percent shareholder in the venture.

Barbados is currently served by American, Delta, JetBlue and US Airways from the U.S. The airline is a subsidiary of Airone Holdings in St. Lucia, which named the Ireland-based communications firm Digicel as its marketing and sales partner.

Three years ago, Airone Ventures tried to set up shop in Jamaica as a low-fare carrier with plans to operate up to 18 weekly flights from Kingston and Montego Bay to Fort Lauderdale and New York.

That application was denied in January 2008, reportedly because the Jamaican government did not want to grant any new airline licenses until Air Jamaica was sold, according to the Jamaica Gleaner.

When its Jamaica application was denied, Airone moved its headquarters and base of operations to Barbados.

Airone’s founder and director of business development is Irishman Robbie Burns, who formerly worked for Digicel in new market projects in the Caribbean. His father, Ian Burns, serves as Airone’s chairman and CEO and formerly was a partner in RSM Robson Rhodes, an accounting and financial advisory firm in Ireland.

The Burnses own 25 percent of Airone. The rest of the shareholders are Allegiant Air and investors from countries in the European Union, according to the application.