Four Caribbean countries go to bat for LIAT Airlines

As the travel industry is getting all shook up by the U.S. heavy shelling against Iraq, four Caribbean countries went out to the rescue of regional air carrier LIAT with a suitcase of credit lines and loans that could allow the rundown company to pay off its debts and avoid losing 5 of its 10 aircraft, the Star of Santa Lucia weekly newspaper reported.

The company –knocked together on a regional basis and headquartered in Antigua and Barbuda- is going through some serious problems sparked by the post-9/11 crisis and the resulting shrinkage of international travel.

The government of Trinidad & Tobago announced it would earmark funds for $12.5 million from the Caribbean Development Bank.

Ralph Gonsalves, deputy prime minister of St. Vincent & The Grenadines, confirmed this week that his country will back up the downtrodden regional carrier with 10.1 percent of the airline’s stocks that remain allotted in his nation.

Mr. Gonsalves reportedly told The Star that Barbados’ prime minister Owen Arthur assured him that his administration is willing to support the carrier that desperately needs $25 million to cope with its financial hardships.

Antigua and Barbuda’s primer minister Lester Bird has vowed to cover 36.8 percent of the debt.

Quite recently, Trinidad & Tobago’s prime minister Patrick Manning proposed a triple merger involving LIAT, Trinidad-based BWIA Airways and Air Jamaica, but the latter balked at the chance.

In reference to those sectors unwilling to save LIAT, Mr. Gonsalves warned the company’s shutdown will cost the region some $200 million and will definitely give a black eye to the strategy of improving air connections as a way of supporting tourism and interregional trade exchange.