The aircraft is a Boeing 737 with a seating capacity for 150 persons.

It will officially begin flying on January 1 2007 immediately after the shutting down of BWIA which closes on December 31 st.

The 66-year-old BWIA has gotten some hard knocks from both the Trinidad government and private sector groups, who said BWIA had become unprofitable and a huge drain on the financial coffers of Trinidad and Tobago.

A team headed by Trinidad businessman, Arthur Lok Jack, was then appointed to look into ways of restructuring for viability but this met with a decision to shut down the airline, making way for the new Caribbean Airlines (CA).

At the launch of Caribbean Airlines, Lok Jack said it marked a new era in Caribbean aviation and that it came with what he called "a clean balance sheet"

Meanwhile, Trinidad and Tobago's Tourism Minister, Howard Chin Lee, in speaking with Caribbean Net News, was upbeat about the new Caribbean Airlines. He said he saw benefits for the tourism sector in the country in terms of increasing tourist arrivals hotel occupancy.

Chin Lee added that he believed new technology, which is being brought to Caribbean Airlines, will assist in making it a profitable venture, unlike BWIA. Some 1,8 00 BWIA workers are expected to receive termination letters by December 31, thus ending an era in Trinidad and Tobago air travel.