Guess Who’s Back (With Another Airline)?

It is being reported that Virgin Atlantic founder Sir Richard Branson is considering making an investment in struggling Caribbean carrier LIAT. Once known as Leeward Islands Air Transport, the operator has seen much criticism for both its performance as well as its poor customer service standards.

It is reported that Sir Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Atlantic, is considering investing in Caribbean carrier LIAT. The operator, once known as Leeward Islands Air Transport, which has struggled in terms of its performance and customer service standards, stated on its website late last month that it is “committed to flying despite challenges.”

LIAT, which is owned by the governments of Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, offers services to 15 destinations across the Caribbean. However, as The Daily Herald reports, Branson has greater ambitions for the carrier.

A cabinet meeting on the subject has already been held on Antigua and Barbuda, with Lionel Hurst, the Chief of Staff within the Office of the Prime Minister in Antigua and Barbuda, saying, “The entrepreneur has proposed investing several million dollars. He would wet lease several aircraft – jets – and they would fly from Fort Lauderdale, [Florida – Ed.], to Jamaica, Haiti and down into Antigua and Barbados. The whole idea is to enlarge LIAT, rather than collapse LIAT or making it a smaller entity.”

“There just is not [enough] passengers and other kinds of possibilities to make LIAT profitable within the Caribbean,” Hurst added.

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