Recent announcements by Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne suggest that LIAT 2020 is set for its takeoff roll.
Speaking on the Browne and Browne show on February 17, PM Browne said regional shareholder governments of the now defunct LIAT (1975) Ltd and the Caribbean Development Bank have agreed to the sale of three aircraft to the newly formed LIAT 2020, paving the way for the launch of the new inter-regional airline.
Browne said his government will pay US$12.1 million to acquire the aircraft and spend another US$8 million to get them fully operational.
He said the new airline is being formed in partnership with Air Peace, a private Nigerian airline founded in 2013. Air Peace will invest US$60 million into LIAT 2020 and, as the largest shareholder, will operate the new airline.
Late last year, Browne said his administration was prepared to invest US$15-$20 million in the new venture. The new airline could launch its operations within 60-90 days.
Browne said between the government and Air Peace, approximately EC$200 million will be spent to improve air connectivity and strengthen the regional integration movement.
Browne's optimism about seeing a takeoff of LIAT 2020 within 60-90 days is overshadowed by compliance with the regulatory requirements for the grant of an air operators certificate (AOC) by the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (ECCAA).
The Antigua-based ECCAA provides aviation safety oversight for OECS members: Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
On May 8, 2020, the FAA announced that OECS had been assigned an FAA International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) Category Two rating, because it does not comply with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) safety standards under the FAA’s IASA programme.
A Category Two IASA rating means OECS laws and regulations lack the necessary requirements to oversee air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards, or that civil aviation authorities are deficient in one or more areas, including technical expertise, trained personnel, record-keeping, inspection procedures or resolution of safety concerns.
Since 2020, ECCA has worked assiduously to resolve all the FAA audit findings and implement the 14 key FAA recommendations for the OECS to be upgraded to an IASA Category One rating.
ECCA is fully aware that any follow-up audits by the FAA will focus on its certification of new air operators.
For this reason, during consideration of LIAT 2020’s application for an AOC per the ICAO’s five-phase certification programme, ECCA will scrupulously ensure all its t’s are crossed and all i’s are dotted.
Under Antigua and Barbuda’s Civil Aviation (Flight Safety) Regulations, Schedule 9116, ECCA has to be satisfied that an applicant for an AOC is a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda.
Last year, it was announced that Allen Onyema, the founder of Air Peace, had obtained Antigua and Barbuda citizenship under the country’s Citizenship by Investm
