LIAT taking CAl to court; claims unfair competition and breach of CARICOM rules

The regional commuter airline LIAT is taking the Trinidad and Tobago national carrier, Caribbean Airlines (CAL), to court over allegations of unfair competition.

However, Trinidad & Tobago's Transport Minister Devant Maharaj told JYOTI he has not yet been advised of the details.

Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of St Vicnent, who chairs the shareholder governments group in LIAT, told regional media LIAT will ask the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to rule on the matter.

Dr Gonsalves disclosed that LIAT was forced to lower ticket prices between two of its more lucrative routes - Trinidad and Grenada, and Trinidad to Barbados – because of stiff competition from CAL.

LIAT's accounts for the year show a loss of more than $21 million and the airline expects that it will pay an additional $26 million for fuel this year, compared with 2010.

Gonsalves said this amounts to unfair compeitition and a breach of the CARICOM Air services Agreement because the Trinidad & Tobago government subsidizes half of CAL’s fuel costs.

He also reiterated that LIAT will likely drop unprofitable routes unless the governments of those countries agree to support the airline.

Gonsalves charged that Caribbean leaders agree that LIAT needs greater support in order to survive but have refused to do anything to correct the problem.

LIAT has been cutting costs by closing City Ticketing Offices (CTOs) in major centres and cutting back on staff.

The airline is owned by the Governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and St. Vincent & the Grenadines with a combined shareholding of 90 per cent between them. The remaining 10 per cent is owned by other regional governments and minority shareholders.