New aircraft for LIAT

AS ANNOUNCED in 2012, LIAT will soon be in receipt of a new type of aircraft to replace its ageing fleet.

This was announced last Friday following a meeting of the shareholder governments at the Hilton Barbados.

Chairman of the shareholder governments, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, met with Prime Minister Freundel Stuart of Barbados and Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer of Antigua and Barbuda, along with Ministers of International Transport and Civil Aviation of both countries and representatives of the governments of Dominica and St. Lucia.

Planes coming soon

Giving an update on the status of the new fleet, Gonsalves said that they are currently on target with ATR 72s arriving soon.

“We are basically on target with the 12 ATR 72s which we are going to acquire by lease and purchase between now and the end of 2014 to replace the ageing Dash 8s which cost a lot of money to maintain; and all the training arrangements with the pilots who are in Toulouse, France preparatory to the first set of aircraft which will come around July or August,” Gonsalves said.

He explained that the leased aircraft will be arriving first, followed by the purchased aircraft sometime in August, September and October.

Following up, CEO Ian Brunton said that ten pilots are already at training in France in preparation for the arrival of the first set of aircraft, and another ten will follow them eventually. (AN)