LIAT reviews jet options

The regional airline is looking at a Brazilian aircraft manufacturer, among others, as it seeks to upgrade its fleet.

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, Wednesday May 11, 2011 – LIAT is now considering how it can upgrade its aging fleet, possibly with planes from Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer.

This follows recent demonstration flights on the Embraer E-190 aircraft which was in the region en route to be delivered to low-cost American carrier, Jet Blue.

“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,” LIAT Chairman Dr. Jean Holder said.

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

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

Following the Barbados demonstration 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.

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