Above: a new LIAT plane

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Four shareholder governments of Caribbean air carrier LIAT will be receiving a total of $65 million in loans from the Caribbean Development Bank to support the purchase of new aircraft for the company.

The shareholders include Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Dominica.

The loan will be lent to and repaid by LIAT within a 13-year period, following a two-year grace period, according to the CDB.

Co-financing is being provided by shareholder equity contributions and from the sale of LIAT’s existing planes, according to the bank.

The loans were approved last week by the Caribbean Development Bank’s Board of Directors in Barbados.

The bank said the loans would have a “significant impact on the operational efficiency and financial performance of the airline.”

“Reliable and efficient air transportation is essential for connectivity, mobility and accessibility within the Region, and for some of CDB’s borrowing members, LIAT provides the only air links with the rest of the Region,” the CDB said.