Antigua Prime Minister Gaston Browne said LIAT is preparing to expand into American territories such as Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands (see regional pages), pending restoration of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Category 1 rating from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The downgrade to Category 2 was applied to all member countries in 2020.
Around when the former Netherlands Antilles was dissolved per 10-10-10 Curaçao – and by extension St. Maarten – were reduced to category 2 as well, also because the top of the Antillean Civil Aviation Department in Willemstad at the time died during the devastating earthquake in Haiti that same year, while attending a conference there. Efforts to reverse this since have – in both cases – been unsuccessful so far.
According to reports, doing so proved a rather difficult and tedious process, requiring significant investment in human and materials resources including specialised knowledge, training and particular legislation. It will thus be interesting to see how the OECS fares in addressing deficiencies the FAA cited in safety oversight by the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (ECCAA) five years ago.
Fact is that a return to Category 1 for St. Maarten would greatly benefit local carrier Winair too, especially now with its bigger ATR planes. There has been much talk of missing the opportunity to achieve US pre-clearance for Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA), but this matter is not to be overlooked.
