LIAT: No passenger flights until at least June 30

It will be at least another month before LIAT takes to the skies ferrying passengers on its island-hopping schedule, Chief Executive Officer Juliet Reifer-Jones has disclosed.

She cited “a great deal of uncertainty” about the date of reopening of most borders and public health protocols across the region.

The airline has maintained strict protocols for its aircraft cleaning and sanitisation to ensure the health and safety of passengers and staff, according to the airline boss.

CARICOM have been working from a common playbook and coordinated stages of preparedness for the pandemic since early March.

But even as the territories declared their intention to reopen their borders, some from as early as next week, the airline will be remain largely grounded until at least June 30, with “many protocols to be implemented, such as testing and mandatory quarantine periods” to allow the carrier to safely move passengers, she said.

The airline is closely monitoring the situation across the LIAT network and will resume flights when it is safe for passengers to do so, Reifer-Jones insisted.

Passengers booked during the extended period of suspension will automatically have their bookings cancelled and will receive full airline credit for future travel, a LIAT statement said. Passengers will be able to rebook as soon as the airline resumes passenger services, it added.

Reifer-Jones gave an assurance that the regional airline is planning the resumption of operations.

Acknowledging that the pandemic crisis was “an extremely difficult time” for both LIAT staff and passengers, she said the carrier is committed to keeping the region connected “especially after this crisis”.

Throughout the pandemic, LIAT has been moving largely air cargo and some passengers on special charters.

The airline brought 100 Cuban medical personnel to Barbados on a charter from Havana in a rare trip further north than the Dominican Republic, the northern edge of its 15-destination network.