LIAT Reviewing Jet Options

Chairman of LIAT (1974) Ltd Dr. Jean Holder, members of the Board of Directors and executive management were hosted by representatives from Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer,{{more}} in Barbados, at a breakfast event culminating in a one-hour demonstration flight on their new Embraer E-190 aircraft, which is in the region, en route to be delivered to the airline, Jet Blue.

The Embraer E-190 has a capacity of 100 seats that can be configured to accommodate both business and economy class.

Dr. Holder indicated that “in this era of competition, LIAT is not standing still, but is seeking ways of offering a better product to the people of the region. We have found the flight to be quite comfortable; now our technical people will analyze the how, when and what, as it pertains to the expansion of our fleet and our network.”

Dr. Holder stated that “the demonstration flight is the result of discussions currently being held with Embraer, which is among several aircraft manufacturers, including Bombardier and ATR, that we are consulting, as the airline seeks viable options to replace its current fleet with more efficient models.”

Following the Barbados flight, the aircraft journeyed to LIAT’s headquarters in Antigua, where another demonstration flight was launched, taking a mixture of LIAT’s executive and technical staff, personnel from the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority and media representatives, on a short flight.