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Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister lobbies OECS to support LIAT
(Press Release) | Antigua & Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne is calling for a reduction and/or complete removal of airport taxes because it is hindering regional travel.
Speaking at the 48th board of governors meeting of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Browne also lobbied for the Leeward Islands Air Transport (LIAT) to receive a subvention from the governments of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and Barbados as part of measures to make it more viable.
“The time has come for us to reform and be proactive in our strategies,” he said.
Browne’s comments come in the wake of a CDB funded study which indicated that removal of airport taxes could increase intra-regional travel by 60 percent.
The study citing cost as a determinant, also indicated that between 2003 – 2016 air travels from the Eastern Caribbean to the United States increased by 200 percent but that Caribbean intra-regional travel declined by 30 percent over the same time frame.