Air link needed

The owner of the largest privately-owned airline in the Caribbean believes cooperation between regional carriers vying to replace LIAT is necessary if the best service is to be provided to travellers.

However, chairman of interCaribbean Airways Lyndon Gardiner is not in favour of any amalgamation.

With cash-strapped LIAT set to be liquidated, interCaribbean is among several airlines that have expressed an interest in filling the void.

During her last speech as CARICOM chairman on July 3, Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced that six airlines had already indicated a willingness to provide services throughout the region.

She named those as SVG Air, One Caribbean, Caribbean Airlines, interCaribbean, Silver and Air Antilles.

At that time Mottley said she was “satisfied” the six airlines would be able to fill the gap.

During a recent interview with Barbados TODAY, Gardiner said cooperation between all of the airlines was integral.

He said competition among airlines would ensure that the best service was provided to persons travelling within the region.

“I think given the network and the dynamics of all of the islands it is going to be very important that you have more cooperation between the carriers than people amalgamating.

“Certainly I’m a big proponent of competition and I think competition keeps us on our toes and keeps us improving the service that we give and obviously the airline business is a very service-orientated and competitive business,” Gardiner explained.

“I believe what is needed in the Caribbean is for us to have a network that complements each other. We need to have schedules and networks that are integrated and that will offer the best opportunity both in terms of travelling and will also offer them a certain level of redundancy, which I think is quite important.”

One area Gardiner said needed to be addressed if airlines were to operate successfully in the region was for the removal of the red tape around the provision of licences.

“Licences need to be made a lot easier. There is no reason why someone from one country could not come in and provide services without the additional need for applications and route rights.

“I think governments can certainly make it easier by tearing down all of these requirements. Instead of each government having separate licences we can make it easier for airlines in the community to participate and being able to pick up and drop off passengers within in the community,” Gardiner said. randybennett@barbadostoday.bb