CARIBBEAN Airlines will only be taking over Air Jamaica's profitable routes, Trinidad's Works Minister Colm Imbert told a post-Cabinet press briefing in Port of Spain Thursday.

According to a report in yesterday's Trinidad Guardian, Caribbean Airlines will take over the profitable routes to ensure Jamaica maintains its tourism lifeline with its major markets in North America and Europe.

The Trinidadian Government, said Imbert, will not take over any of Air Jamaica's debts.

The T&T Works Minister said the jobs of Air Jamaica employees will be made redundant on April 12, as reported by the Observer on Thursday, as Caribbean Airlines has only been contracted to take up the slack to service Air Jamaica's routes.

"The tourism industry is the life*lo** of the Jamaican economy, so even though they may be having problems with their airline, they still need to have access to these markets. "We have been involved in the process as they are unwilling to relinquish this control to airlines outside of the region as they may not have the kind of commitment to regional development and the growth of the tourism sector that Caribbean Airlines will have," the Trinidad Guardian quoted the works minister.

"We will be focusing on the profitable routes because our stipulation is that there should be a business emphasis on the deal, so the unprofitable routes will be dropped as neither the Jamaican nor T&T Government is able to put more money into airlift.

"We are now negotiating the acquisition of the route rights from Air Jamaica. These routes have value and it would cost a lot in marketing, business development, time and other issues if we were to develop them ourselves," said Imbert.

He added: "In addition, the Government of Jamaica also has a vision about what they want to achieve and where the emphasis will be placed with the new arrangement."

Imbert said acquiring the routes, infrastructure and codes would save Trinidad a lot of time and money and ensure many jobs at Air Jamaica are saved because Caribbean Airlines will need the support on the ground.

"It will be a blow to close Air Jamaica down and not replace the airlift and ensure continuity and air transport for their tourism industry. "We are also aware that Air Jamaica has industrial relations issues pertaining to the closing of the airline and the Jamaican Government is working on those issues and, hopefully, they will be resolved by the closure date as well," Imbert said.