Business
Barbados working to get REDjet back in the air – Prime Minister
Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart says his administration has not turned its back on the cash-strapped low budget carrier, REDjet, that halted its services to regional passengers in March.
Speaking at a public meeting of his ruling Democratic Labour Party (DLP) here on Sunday night, Stuart said that there were still some concerns about the airline before the government could consider investing in its operations.
Last month, a senior Barbados government minister said that efforts were being made to have the low-cost carrier resume operations within a two month period.
Trinidad and Tobago has, like Barbados, revoked the licences granted to the carrier that suspended its services to various regional destinations.
Billed as a low-cost, no-frills carrier initially offering fares as low as US$9.99, the privately-owned airline did not give specific reasons for the shutdown, but suggested that it was expecting state assistance to continue operations and blamed “subsidized” competitors for its troubles.
Prime Minister Stuart said that he has asked the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Darcy Boyce, to secure a copy of the company’s balance sheet so that it could be examined by the government.
He said after such exercise, a determination will be made about the airline as he insisted that it would not be treated as “some cast-off child.
