The Caribbean island paradise ceased to be a monarchy and became a republican government after 55 years under the administration of Queen Elizabeth II when it became independent in 1966. For the Caribbean region, it is one of the most important countries in terms of destinations and flights, as it is also widely regarded as a point of departure to Europe.
Barbados is a great tourist concentration center, with several cruise agencies starting or ending their schedules on the island. The hotel chains say that the transition to a republic will not modify the growing movement of post-pandemic tourists; in fact, the United Kingdom will continue to be the main source of European tourists to the region.
Grantley Adams International Airport, the only airport on the island, is the main entry point to the country. Barbados does not have an airline, although Caribbean Airlines and InterCaribbean have a base to connect to major destinations in the area.
Executive Air Ltd. is the only airline registered in the country for charter, cargo, and air cab flights. Previously REDjet was the first low-cost carrier in the region and chose Barbados as its base. It was founded in May 2011 and only lasted ten months before closing due to financial difficulties.
According to data obtained by Aviacionline through Cirium, Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, TUI Airways,f, and Aer Lingus UK make up 52.4% of the island’s seat offer, connecting to different points in the UK.
After several years of declining after the global crisis of the late 2000s, since 2015 Grantley Adams Airport has again experienced a trend towards growth in passenger traffic, only surpassing in 2017 the values of 2008.
In 2019, prior to the pandemic, it had reached 2,298,491 passengers moved. That figure collapsed to 767,147 in 2020.
Routes and frequencies in Barbados
| Airlines | Destinations | Weekly frequencies | Aircraft |
| Aer Lingus UK | Manchester (MAN), United Kingdom | 3 weekly fights | Airbus A330-300 |
| Air Antilles | Antigua y Barbuda (ANU) | 2 weekly flights | ATR 42-500 |
| Air Antilles | Fort-de-France (FDF), Martinique | 3 weekly flights | ATR 42/72-500 |
| Air Antilles | Saint Lucia (SLU) | 2 weekly flights | ATR 42-500 |
| Air Canada | Montreal/Trudeau (YUL), Canade | 2 weekly flights | Boeing 737-8 |
| Air Canada | Toronto/Pearson (YYZ), Canada | 7 weekly flights | Boeing 737-8 / Boeing 787-8 |
| American Airlines | Charlotte/Douglas (CLT), United States | 14 weekly flights | Boeing 737-800 / B737-8 |
| American Airlines | Miami (MIA), United States | 1 weekly flight | Boeing 737-800 |
| British Airways | London/Gatwick (LGW), United Kingdom | 5 weekly flights | Boeing 777-200ER |
| British Airways | London/Heathrow (LHR), United Kingdom | 7 weekly flights | Boeing 777-300ER |
| Caribbean Airlines | Antigua y Barbuda (ANU) | 1 weekly flight | Boeing 737-800 |
| Caribbean Airlines | Dominica (DOM) | 1 weekly flight | ATR 72-600 |
| Caribbean Airlines | Georgetown/Ogle (OGL), Guyana | 4 weekly flights | ATR 72-600 |
| Caribbean Airlines | Kingston (KIN), Jamaica | 1 weekly flight | Boeing 737-800 |
| Caribbean Airlines | New York (JFK), United States | 1 weekly flight | Boeing 737-800 |
| Caribbean Airlines | Port of Spain (POS), Trinidad and Tobago | 4 weekly flights | ATR 72-600 |
| Caribbean Airlines | St. Vincent and The Grenadines | 2 weekly flights | ATR 72-600 |
| Condor | Frankfurt (FRA), Germany | 1 weekly flight | Boeing 767-300ER |
| Eurowings Discover | Frankfurt (FRA), Germany | 3 weekly flights | Airbus A330-200/-300 |
| Jetblue | Boston (BOS), United States | 2 weekly flights | Airbus A320/A321 |
| Jetblue | Newark (EWR) | 1 weekly flight | Airbus A321ceo |
| Jetblue | Nueva York (JFK) | 7 weekly flights | Airbus A321ceo/neo |
| InterCaribbean | Antigua y Barbuda (ANU) | 2 weekly flights | Embraer 145 |
| InterCaribbean | Dominica (DOM) | 4 weekly flights | Embraer 120 |
| InterCaribbean | Georgetown (GEO), Guyana | 12 weekly flights | Embraer 145 |
| InterCaribbean | Granada (GND) | 4 weekly flights | Embraer 120 |
| InterCaribbean | Saint Lucia (SLU) | 7 weekly flights | Embraer 120 |
| InterCaribbean | St. Vincent and The Grenadines | 10 weekly flights | Embraer 120 |
| KLM | Ámsterdam (AMS), Netherland | 3 weekly flights | Airbus A330-200 |
| LIAT | Antigua y Barbuda (ANU) | 2 weekly flights | ATR 72-600 |
| LIAT | Basseterre (SKB) | 1 weekly flight | ATR 72-600 |
| LIAT | Dominica (DOM) | 2 weekly flights | ATR 72-600 |
| LIAT | St. Vincent and The Grenadines | 2 weekly flights | ATR 72-600 |
| LIAT | Saint Lucia (SLU) | 2 weekly flights | ATR 72-600 |
| One Caribbean | St. Vincent and The Grenadines | 5 weekly flights | Saab 340 |
| SVG Air | Bequia (BQU) | 7 weekly flights | Twin Otter |
| SVG Air | Union Island (UNI) | 7 weekly flights | Twin Otter |
| TUI Airways | Birmingham (BHX), United Kingdom | 3 weekly flights | Boeing 787-8 |
| TUI Airways | London/Gatwick (LGW), United Kingdom | 3 weekly flights | Boeing 787-8 |
| TUI Airways | Manchester (MAN), United Kingdom | 4 weekly flights | Boeing 787-8 |
| TUIfly | Dusseldorf (DUS), Germany | 1 weekly flight | Boeing 787-8 |
| United | Newark (EWR), United States | 1 weekly flight | Boeing 737-800 |
| United | Washington (IAD), United States | 1 weekly flight | Boeing 737-800 |
| Virgin Atlantic | Edinburgh (EDI), United Kingdom | 2 weekly flights | Airbus A330-300 |
| Virgin Atlantic | London/Heathrow (LHR), United Kingdom | 11 weekly flights | Airbus A330-300 |
| Virgin Atlantic | Manchester (MAN), United Kingdom | 6 weekly flights | Airbus A330-300 |
| Westjet | Toronto/Pearson (YYZ), Canada | 3 weekly flights | Boeing 737 NG / Boeing 737 MAX |
