S.T. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – The Antigua and Barbuda government says it will pay US$12.1 million into an Escrow account for the acquisition of other planes owned by the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (C.D.B.) as efforts continue to launch LIAT (2020) Limited.
The government has already made an offer to purchase the three aircraft owned by the C.D.B., which had been used by the inter-regional airline LIAT, which was dissolved earlier this year.
The airline, which is owned by the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, and St Vincent and the Grenadines, ended its operations in its current form on January 24 this year.
In a statement issued at the weekly Cabinet meeting, the ministers had agreed “to pay $12.1 million U.S. into an Escrow account for the acquisition of the other planes owned by the Caribbean Development Bank”.
It did not elaborate or provide any information, but earlier this year, Prime Minister Gaston Browne said regional shareholder governments in the now defunct LIAT (1974) Limited had agreed to sell at least three aircraft to the newly formed LIAT 2020, paving the way for the launch of the inter-regional airline.
The latest Cabinet statement noted that “two flights are planned with the ECCAA (Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority) officials that are a prelude to issuing the A.O.C. (Air Operator Certificate), which is required for the airline to be authorized to fly.”
In February, the government said that “following the consummation of the sale, the three aircraft will form the basis of the fleet that will cause LIAT 2020 to become a viable entity. It will partner with Air Peace to provide the much-needed intra-regional and extra-regional services to move people and cargo throughout the Caribbean”.
The new LIAT 2020 airline is being formed in partnership with Air Peace, a private Nigerian airline founded in 2013 and last year, Browne said that his administration had already indicated that it is prepared to invest between US$15 to 20 million in the new venture.
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