“COVID would have actually, let's say increased the losses exponentially, so whereas in all of 2019 LIAT made a loss of about EC$12 million, that was within the means of the shareholder governments to subsidise,” said the prime minister who was speaking on local radio .

“What I'm hoping that we do not have going forward with the new entity, is any squabble over the location of the headquarters, at the end of the day, the only service that Antigua and Barbuda has enjoyed … within Caricom [Caribbean Community] is LIAT and this has been the case for several decades.

According to the prime minister, LIAT does not have sufficient assets to satisfy the requirements or claims of most of its creditors, including the airline's employees.

According to the prime minister, the new carrier will be much leaner that the current LIAT, which employs hundreds throughout the region, and there will be significant job losses.

He also said that the new entity will retain the name LIAT .