LIAT began flying in 1956, with one 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 airplane types, such as the Beechcraft Bonanza and DeHavilland Heron airplanes. Hawker Siddeley HS 748's came in 1965; this was due to the airline's decision to phase out the Herons.
Contrary to popular belief among many commercial aviation fans, LIAT actually wasn't always an all propeller engined airline. After Court Line obtained the airline in the early 1970s, LIAT entered the jet age, using BAC One Elevens for their longer Caribbean routes, as well as Britten-Norman types. In 1973, LIAT provided maintenance work for another Caribbean airline, Carib Aviation; these services were suspended when Carib Aviation decided to hire their own mechanics in 1974.
Court Line went bankrupt soon after acquiring LIAT, and the BAC-One Elevens were gone from the LIAT fleet as well. In order to keep the airline flying, the governments of many Caribbean nations stepped in and bought the airline. The jets were replaced with a series of smaller airplanes, such as the Twin Otters.
The 1980s were a decade of growth for the airline: by 1986, many daily flights were operated to Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as well as other regions that the airline had never flown to. Dash 8 airplanes were bought, to allow for the transportation of more passengers and cargo at a faster pace.
In 1995 LIAT was again privatized, and in March 2007 has merged with Caribbean Star Ailrines to form LIAT - Star of the Caribbean. |
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