A member of Air Jamaica´s management team believes the financially plagued airline will continue serving Jamaica and the Caribbean, in spite of its problems that also include a reduced schedule and suspension of flights to several destinations. Talking to a New York radio show, Kaye Chong, manager of community and special market sales, says the State-run airline will triumph over its challenges through continued business perseverance and faith.

With an initial investment of $10 million, Aerolineas Argentinas –run by Spanish group Marsans- will create Aerolineas del Peru, the South American nation´s flagship carrier. Aerolineas del Peru will come into being a year ahead of schedule with the Marsans Group holding 49 percent of all stakes, while the remaining 51 percent will be in the hands of Peruvian investors.

Four months after three Caribbean governments agreed to help the Antigua-based Leeward Islands Air Transport (LIAT) restructure itself, the debt-ridden airline has said its financial restructuring program is progressing satisfactorily. LIAT´s Chief Executive Officer, Garry Cullen, said that under the agreement reached with the governments of Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago, the airline had been promised US$16.2 million for a transformation plan.

The battle between the Jamaica Airline Pilots Association (JALPA) and the management of Air Jamaica came to an end after the union agreed to a three-year agreement that would result in a 30 per cent reduction in salaries and allowances. As a result of this agreement, the 180 pilots who were facing redundancy would now be able to keep their jobs and plans are being formulated to re-employ the 40 pilots whose positions were recently laid off.

Peru and China are sitting down to sketch a strategic alliance for the implementation of nonstop flights between both nations, Peruvian governmental consultant Mario Roggero revealed earlier this week. “This piece of news is generating great expectations because it would mean a strategic alliance with China,” Mr. Roggero said in an interview on a local radio station. In his opinion, the agreement could be worked out between Transportes Nacionales de Peru and Air China.

Representatives of the Governments of Antigua and Barbuda and The Netherlands Antilles recently concluded discussions in Curacao for a new air services agreement aimed at liberalizing air transport between the two countries. The new agreement will replace one agreed to in 1994 that limited the number of flights that could be operated between the two countries and also contained a number of other restrictive practices relating to pricing and capacity.