BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, has voiced his concerns over what he described as discrimination against LIAT by Barbados and St. Vincent and the Grenadines for having the airline subjected to a blockade.
Over the weekend, the airline noted that it was forced to suspend its operations to Barbados and SVG due to the lack of approval to gain entry into the two territories.
“The airline had previously announced services to Barbados and St. Vincent & the Grenadines and was scheduled to begin flights as of November 30th. Prior to its suspension of services due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the airline had been operating to these destinations on valid flight approvals that have not expired. LIAT operated a scheduled flight to Barbados on Monday 30th November. However, the airline has been informed by these territories that new arrangements must be made for the airline to operate into Barbados and St. Vincent & the Grenadines,” the airline said in a media statement.
However, Prime Minister Browne is not taking the suspension lightly, instead he blasted the leaders of the two territories.
Speaking on the Browne and Browne Show on Saturday (Dec. 05), the PM noted that the airline would succeed despite the “artificial impediment” that is being created, even as the airline has valid flight approvals to enter the two territories.
Pointing out that LIAT is not a new carrier, Browne said the airline is a legacy carrier that has been servicing those territories for a number of years.
“The irony is there is no such requirements for other carriers. All of the other airlines that resume services to those countries they had no such requirements,” Browne claimed. “So, the question is: Why are they discriminating against LIAT?”
The development comes at a time when the airline is seeking to return to the skies and to a level of profitability.
But PM Browne believes that SVG and Barbados are treating the airline like a “stepchild”, emphasising that the entity should be embraced and “given preference” in the operating market.
“If they would seek to sustain this type of behaviour then clearly it will be a restraining of trade, and I presume that the Administrator would want to consider taking some form of action or take them to the Caribbean Court of Justice,” noted Browne.
No date or measure was outlined by the airline that must be taken to get approval to return to the two islands.
