LIAT, Caribbean Star form new airline
…Commercial alliance to facilitate transition phase
Kaieteur News
February 9, 2007
LIAT airlines Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mark Darby, yesterday announced that it has entered into a commercial alliance with Caribbean Star.
The pact has been in effect since February 1 and will continue to exist until the finalisation of the merger.
The CEO revealed that the service provider will in future be known as, ‘LIAT- The new star of the Caribbean .'
The logistics entailed in the merger are scheduled to be completed by mid-March.
Darby noted that the merger followed competition between the two airlines which saw ticket prices plummeting, and causing both companies to operate at a loss.
The CEO posited that the airlines were losing US$35 below operating cost per ticket. Darby posited that as a result of the merger the new airline will be able to better serve the public since it will be larger and more capable, and there will be no duplication of routes.
He noted that the flight schedules for both airlines will be amalgamated into one new and enhanced flight schedule.
Both entities will continue to operate their full fleets and will provide air transportation to 22 markets across the Caribbean region, including the newest addition of Curacao and Tobago, in addition to flights to North America .
All LIAT and Caribbean Star passengers are being re-accommodated on flights in the new schedule.
The CEO indicated that in order to facilitate the smooth transition, all flights will be marketed as LIAT and flown with LIAT's flight numbers with the introduction of online bookings being accommodated with its Navitaire system.
The Memorandum of Understanding for the alliance was signed in December and the entities hastily finalised the merger to alleviate the revenue crisis.
Darby emphasised that all prior bookings will be honoured and ticketing policies remain unchanged.
He added that all existing marketing partnerships and alliances with other airlines will remain in place. The only change expected is the logo.
Yesterday, representatives of both airlines met with local travel agents at the Roraima Residence Inn, Bel Air Park , to relay the logistics of the transition and merger.