By Kevon Browne
St Kitts and Nevis (WINN): St. Kitts-Nevis has agreed to write-off EC$11 million owed by debt-ridden regional airline LIAT (1974) Ltd.
LIAT, now in receivership has laid off hundreds of workers and owes staff alone an estimated EC$94 million.
In an update from Barbados Today, reporter Emmanuel Joseph provided information on the Pilot’s stance on the restarting of LIAT’s services saying they are waiting for the court’s decision.
Prime Minister announced the decision to write off the $11 million at Tuesday, December 1 press conference held at NEMA Headquarters in St. Kitts.
According to an article by the Anguillian Trumpet, St. Kitts and Nevis now join Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, and Barbados in the commitment to write off LIAT’s debt.
On September 12, 2020, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne announced that a number of regional leaders gave their commitment to writing off debts owed to them by LIAT.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister and Chairman of LIAT, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has reported that the airline was in deep financial trouble since 2017, and lost EC$14 million in 2019.
Since COVID struck, the airline reported a loss of EC $35 million as of June 2020.
Further reports indicated that the airline laid off 564 workers, retaining reportedly 103
CEO of St. Kitts Tourism Authority, Rachel Browne announced that LIAT would only fly to the federation once a week on Saturdays effective December 5, with two inbound and two outbound scheduled flights according to LIAT’s website.
