Sufficient flights will be available for Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007, despite the predicted downsizing associated with the merger of LIAT and Caribbean Star.
Decisive assurance has been given on this issue by LIAT Chairman Dr. Jean Holder, who stated categorically that there would be no shortage of flights as the region hosts CWC.
Dr. Holder said that the plans being prepared by the two carriers have, as their objective, ease of conversion throughout the World Cup period.
“We are certainly bearing in mind continuously a flexible arrangement which will ensure that there is no shortage of equipment. That is not going to one of the problems. I want to make it abundantly clear that there will be no shortage of equipment to fly whatever flights are necessary for making the World Cup a success,” he said during an interview with the Antigua Sun.
Speaking from his office in Barbados, Dr. Holder said that the potential impact of the merger on CWC flights was a major consideration of the airlines when they decided to immediately implement a code sharing agreement.
“What we are trying to do at this time is ensure that we have a fairly seamless transition into the whole process of the World Cup,” he said. “There are people who are already making bookings in respect of the intra-Caribbean movements for the World Cup. I think that the whole idea is for us to try, as far as possible, to ensure that (despite) the fact that these two airlines are still in the middle of talking about the merger and have not yet finalised arrangements, we make it as seamless as possible.”
Dr. Holder noted that the airlines and the region have invested so much time and money in trying to ensure that CWC 2007 works well and said that one of the things could not be allowed to fall is the business of intra-Caribbean air transportation.
“That is key to us making a success of CWC, so I think that this whole movement in the direction of code sharing is specifically geared for that purpose,” he said. According to Dr. Holder, the airlines are seeking to achieve very closely interrelated operations as soon as possible and most likely from about 1 Feb.
“The code-sharing will help us to operate, to a large extent, as though we were actually a merged carrier and that is very particular to ensure that things go well for this World Cup,” he told the SUN.