Prime Minister Gaston Browne has addressed questions regarding the delayed operations of LIAT 2020.
The inquiry, posed by a member of the House, sought clarification on why the airline had yet to commence services despite the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) involvement.
He informed the House that the airline’s administrator had a court hearing scheduled for the previous day to secure final approval for the Government of Antigua and Barbuda to acquire three aircraft.
“Mr. Speaker, the delay has nothing to do with the sale agreement. The administrator had a court hearing yesterday to obtain the final approval for the government to acquire the three aircraft,” Browne stated.
The Prime Minister further outlined the steps required to make the aircraft operational.
“We will need to invest approximately $10 million to get these aircraft airworthy. After that, we should have between five to six aircraft ready for operations,” he added.
Despite these setbacks, Browne highlighted the progress already made with the two aircraft currently leased from Air Peace.
“The two aircraft that are here from Air Peace have commenced operations. They are already conducting charter flights. In fact, a charter was completed by LIAT just yesterday,” he noted.
Looking ahead, Prime Minister Browne assured the House that scheduled flights are expected to begin in early August. “I’m told that scheduled flights will commence in the first week of August,” he confirmed.
