By Theresa Goodwin
Talks between LIAT and the governments of Barbados and St Vincent and the Grenadines continue, days after the airline was forced to cancel commercial services to both islands on the grounds that it needed new authorisation to operate.
The airline’s court-appointed Administrator, Cleveland Seaforth, provided the update during an interview on state television Tuesday night.
He also revealed that matter has attracted the attention of the wider CARICOM grouping.
Regarding St Vincent and the Grenadines, Seaforth said the authorities at Argyle International Airport want to assume responsibility for accepting and dealing with arriving passengers, instead of the LIAT staff who had been trained ahead of the resumption of commercial flights.
“We are in dialogue with them on the matter and my expectation is that we should have an answer from the Board of Directors on Friday,” Seaforth said.
However, at the time of the interview, the Antigua-based carrier had not received any response from the government of Barbados. The airline maintains that it has a valid flight approval to operate in that island; however Barbadian authorities are insisting otherwise.
The administrator also explained that CARICOM has approached the company to ascertain what transpired and has also requested written reports on the ongoing talks.
“My understanding is it is possible that CARICOM may make some intervention to try to resolve the matter, but we continue to discuss it,” Seaforth said.