LIAT

LIAT (1974) LTD, operating as Leeward Islands Air Transport or LIAT, is an airline headquartered on the grounds of V. C. Bird International Airport in Antigua. It operates high-frequency inter-island scheduled services serving 17 destinations in the Caribbean. The airline's main base is VC Bird International Airport, Antigua and Barbuda, with bases at Grantley Adams International Airport, Barbados and Piarco International Airport, Trinidad and Tobago.

History

Leeward Islands Air Transport Services was founded by Kittician the late (now Sir) Frank Delisle in Montserrat on 20 October 1956 and began flying with a single Piper Apache operating between Antigua and Montserrat. With the acquisition in 1957 of 75 percent of the airline by the larger, better known BWIA, LIAT was able to expand to other Caribbean destinations and to obtain new aircraft types, such as the Beechcraft Bonanza and de Havilland Heron. Hawker Siddeley HS 748s came in 1965, due to the airline's decision to phase out the Herons.