BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – NEWS coming out of Antigua and Barbuda stated that LIAT will return to the skies on Sunday (Nov. 1), the day on which that nation will be celebrating its 39th Independence Anniversary.
According to The Daily Observer, the flight would leave VC Bird International Airport in Coolidge, Antigua and arrive at the Melville Hall Airport in Marigot, Dominica on November 1, which is a fitting gesture between the two shareholder countries that have long since shared close ties.
The information, the media house stated, was made public following a meeting between the Administrator, Cleveland Seaforth, and members of Antigua and Barbuda’s Cabinet.
“I think it’s going to give a signal to the industry that they intend to return,’ The Observer quoted Cabinet spokesman Melford Nicholas as saying this morning (Oct. 22).
As of Sunday (Nov. 8), the airline is scheduled to commence regular flights to a limited number of destinations over a five-day week period.
The Observer also noted that the Cabinet spokesman said: “They have indicated as well, that beyond the first flight, that the regular scheme of operations, even though it’s on a reduced schedule, will commence on the 8th of November.”
LIAT was also granted a permit to fly to the USVI and Puerto Rico.
Nicholas also informed that in order to scale back LIAT’s operations to make it more economically viable, the Administrator still has to seek legal consent from the court.
In June this year, a plan had been implemented to restructure the cash-strapped LIAT. And in early October, the airline had terminated the contracts of 564 employees and retained 103 of them, who the Administrator deemed as being vital to the reduced operations.
