Regional carrier showing positive signs

By Dana Niland
CJ Contributor

LIAT has announced “strong” network performance in terms of passenger numbers, revenue, and yield for July 2015, its most profitable month in recent years, according to the company.

The airline has reported an average load factor of just under 75 percent for the month of July, with a 16 percent growth in revenue per available seat mile in the past year.

The top five destinations with the biggest increase in passenger arrivals were: Guyana, with a 62 percent increase; Tortola, with a 32 percent increase; Barbados, with a 15 percent increase; St. Maarten, with a 15 percent increase; and Antigua with a 9 percent increase.

LIAT also credited its best-performing non-stop routes– Barbados-Guyana, which nearly doubled its revenue year on year, and Tortola-St. Maarten, which generated an additional 57 percent in revenue.

The new non-stop routes launched in mid-July, including Barbados-Trinidad, Tortola-San Juan, and Barbados-Guyana services, are already developing steadily, and the growth is projected to continue over the remainder of the summer.