SVG PM Gonsalves is hopeful LIAT 2020 will fly there

St Vincent Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves expressed optimism about the possibility of LIAT2020 operating flights to his country

Despite LIAT 2020 resuming flights on Tuesday, the initial routes do not include St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

According to a report in the St Vincent Times, Gonsalves mentioned that while he currently lacks specific details about the airline’s plans to fly into SVG, he anticipates that airline representatives will visit Kingstown for discussions.

“I don’t have any updates; the CEO and I had informal talks during the CARICOM meeting, and they are expected to visit us for further discussions.”

“I am hopeful that they will come. I extended a warm welcome to them and assured them that we have space available if they wish to establish offices here. I informed them that we are fully willing to cooperate, as I discussed with Gaston Brown, and he is aware of that.”

Gonsalves explained that he believes the current limitation in the number of aircraft is a contributing factor.

“I think the issue is that they have a limited fleet at the moment and are awaiting further expansion. So, I think it’s more about their internal planning. They seem to be rolling out their services in a systematic manner from their perspective.”

Last Tuesday, CEO Hafsaf Abdulsalam announced that LIAT 2020 will initially operate flights on the Antigua/St. Lucia route for the next two weeks and intends to expand its services soon, including flights to Barbados, Grenada, Dominica, and St. Kitts & Nevis.

Abdulsalam also revealed plans to add 11 new destinations in September and expand operations to larger Caribbean regions in the south, such as Guyana, Trinidad, and Tobago.

LIAT2020 also intends to launch its new 128-seat E2 195 narrow-body aircraft before the end of the year. According to Abdulsalam, ECCA’s Cat 1 designation will allow the airline to increase flights to Panama and, ideally, to Miami, Puerto Rico, and the British Virgin Islands.