In yet another major restructuring of the Caribbean market, Caribbean Star Airlines and LIAT are negotiating to join forces to create a new airline to serve the Caribbean.

"While competition is the best system in some environments, cooperation appears to be the better avenue for Caribbean Star, LIAT and the region," said Caribbean Star President Skip Barnett.

From its base in St John's, Antigua, Caribbean Star serves 12 gateways within the region with 637 weekly flights. The carrier operates a fleet of 11 aircraft. LIAT, operates to over 19 destinations in the Caribbean linking the archipeligo from the Dominican Republic to the Guyana in South America. The two currently have in excess of 186 flights per day using Bombardier Dash 8 equipment. Between them, they operate 30 aircraft across the region.

LIAT, which has faced many fiscal crises, is owned by regional shareholders, with the major shareholders being the governments of Barbados, Antigua, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and St. Lucia and its board recently approved the merger negotiations.

The move comes just a few months after Caribbean Airlines announced it was taking over BWIA and planned to launch services in January. (RAN, September 18, p.6). The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, 97.18 percent shareholder of BWIA, approved a substantial capital injection for the creation of a new regional airline based at Trinidad's airport at Piarco. It is now undergoing local and international regulatory approval, which is expected by its January 2007 start-up date. BWIA aircraft and assets were transferred to Caribbean Airlines.