LIAT 2020 (5L, Antigua) CEO Hafsah Abdulsalam has announced St. Vincent Argyle International airport in St. Vincent & the Grenadines as the airline's southern Caribbean hub, emphasising the independent Commonwealth country's strategic importance for the startup's regional expansion and enhanced connectivity plans.
Abdulsalam made the remarks at a ceremony celebrating LIAT 2020's inaugural flight to the island on October 4, reported the Antigua News Room (ANR) news site. "We have carefully considered St. Vincent as a vital strategic hub in our operations," she said, adding that LIAT 2020 intends the new hub to cater to passengers, businesses, and cargo.
She noted this expansion was part of a broader strategy to strengthen the inter-regional travel network and position St. Vincent as a central element in LIAT 2020's growth in the southern Caribbean.
Abdulsalam credited the support from St. Vincent's Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves and local authorities for making this choice possible.
LIAT 2020, the new iteration of defunct predecessor LIAT (Antigua and Barbuda), is a 30/70 joint venture between the government of Antigua & Barbuda and Nigerian carrier Air Peace (P4, Lagos). It made its inaugural flight on August 6, 2024, with an E145.
Plans exist to expand the fleet to at least seven aircraft, including three Embraer E145s and three ATR42-600s from the previous LIAT fleet.
According to the ch-aviation schedules module, LIAT 2020 currently serves seven Caribbean countries from its home base in Antigua, including St. Lucia Vigie (Saint Lucia), Bridgetown (Barbados), Dominica Melville Hall (Dominica), Basseterre (Saint Kitts and Nevis), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada (Grenada). Further expansion is planned to include St. Maarten, Tortola (British Virgin Islands), Georgetown Cheddi Jagan (Guyana), Port of Spain (Trinidad & Tobago), and Barbuda Codrington (Barbuda), its booking engine reveals.
