GCAA to write LIAT on future operations here

The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) will be writing the management of Antigua-based LIAT to enquire about its future operations, in light of reports of its reorganisation, GCAA Director General Lieutenant Col. (ret’d) Egbert Field has said.

Field told Stabroek News that the airline has not indicated if it is pulling out from operating the Guyana route and the GCAA is only aware of the restructuring from what is being reported in the media.

“LIAT has not even written to us. We will be writing to them to get an understanding of their future operations here,” Field said.

The Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) has reported that the Antiguan High Court has granted a petition allowing for the reorganisation of LIAT, the appointment of an administrator as well as staying all proceedings relating to the liquidation of the company.

It said the Gaston Browne administration is moving ahead with efforts to reorganise the airline, which owes creditors in excess of EC$100 million. Browne had disagreed with his fellow shareholder governments, mainly Barbados and St Vincent and the Grenadines, to liquidate the airline, which has been serving the region for decades. Dominica is the other major shareholder government.

According to the new reorganizational plan, a copy of which has been obtained by the CMC, Antigua and Barbuda is proposing re-investment of EC$108 million with St. John’s indicating that under the new plan it is prepared to underwrite up to 50 per cent of the required capitalisation.

“The new capital invested during reorganisation will be protected, in that it will rank in priority above all other creditors in the unlikely event of liquidation,” it said, while noting that the remaining EC$54 million is to be shared by other private and public sector entities, including existing shareholder governments.