SVG Air (SVD, St. Vincent Argyle International) is planning to add a new, albeit unspecified, aircraft in 2023 to restart services to Carriacou, suspended following a maintenance issue with one of its own DHC-6-300s.
"We are working closely with the Grenada government to source an additional aircraft that will be based in Grenada for 2023," SVG Air said.
The carrier explained that J8-CRU (msn 623) sustained engine damage due to grit and gravel ingestion on October 29, 2022, and has since been grounded at St. Vincent Argyle International with both engines sent for maintenance. It did not provide any timeline for the reactivation of the 43.6-year-old turboprop.
"Since the end of October, we have been sub-chartering aircraft to maintain the Carriacou service, but unfortunately, it is now getting busy, and aircraft are no longer reliably available to charter. This will cause an interruption to the service for several weeks at a minimum until we can obtain two new engines to put on the aircraft," the airline said.
SVG Air has a further five DHC-6-300s, the ch-aviation fleets module shows. However, the aircraft are required to operate other routes in its network.
The carrier did not respond to ch-aviation's query concerning the aircraft type under consideration.
Services from St. Vincent and Grenada to Carriacou restarted in August 2022 after an 18-year hiatus with SVG Air the sole airline providing air service to the island. Carriacou residents are currently forced to use ferries to travel to neighbouring islands with scheduled air services. Grenada and Carriacou are the only two islands in Grenada with commercial airports.
Grenada does not have its own base carrier, although it is a minor shareholder in LIAT (Antigua and Barbuda) (Antigua) (St. Vincent & the Grenadines is a major shareholder). The country has been vocal about the need to finance new aircraft either for the revamped LIAT/LIAT 2020, interCaribbean Airways, or another airline to ensure more capacity in Grenada.
