Business
LIAT expected to resume flights after fire
The destroyed plane, registration V2-LGH, was undergoing a routine maintenance check at the time, according to radio reports.
“The company is working with the investigative authorities of Antigua and Barbuda as well as the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (ECCAA) to ascertain the cause of the fire,” the airline spokesman said in a statement.
Most flights in LIAT’s network fan out in the early morning hours from LIAT hubs at Antigua’s VC Bird and Barbados’ Grantley Adams airports.
The raging fire forced the Antigua & Barbuda Airport Authority to suspend operations at VC Bird until firefighters had managed to put it out and an initial assessment could be carried out.
The fire comes as a blow to the 56-year-old island-hopping carrier, owned by the governments of Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados and St Vincent & the Grenadines, which has been saddled with financial and industrial relations problems over the years. – CMC
