By Latrishka Thomas
LIAT’s Chief Executive Officer Julie Reifer-Jones has maintained that the regional airline will continue to fly, as she shot down reports from a local media entity last week, which said that the carrier “may be on the verge of collapse.
Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne also addressed those claims saying that the media entity would be best advised to be more constructive in its reporting as it pertains to LIAT.
“It seems as though there are some who are literally wishing the collapse of LIAT but they have to understand that LIAT is the fundamental institution to regional air travel and to the integration movement and I find that that type of reporting is very irresponsible. What they should be doing, they should be calling on all the stakeholders within the region to come together to ensure that LIAT is placed on the path of sustainability and viability but instead they continue undermine LIAT is a very important regional institution,” Browne said.
The government of Antigua and Barbuda had recently entered into negotiation with Barbados after making an offer to purchase that country’s shares in the cash-strapped airline.
The Barbadian government currently owns 49 percent interest in the airline while Antigua and Barbuda owns 34 percent and if Barbados were to divest the majority shares, the twin island would become the major shareholder in the regional carrier.
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