PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — The state-owned Caribbean Airlines says it will launch its services to the Eastern Caribbean from Wednesday.

CAL said that the service will operate from Barbados and the flights will initially operate between Barbados to St Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada with other destinations to be added once the regulatory approvals are received.

On Tuesday, Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, announced that his administration had given the green light for CAL to fly into Dominica.

CAL said that the route expansion into the Eastern Caribbean is part of its “current strategic plan” and that earlier this year it had acquired additional aircraft and resources including pilots and cabin crew to support this initiative.

“Transport is a main pillar of Caribbean states, where it provides a space for the facilitation of trade, investment, and the movement of people. Regionally and internationally, there is a lot to restart, and subject to regulatory approvals Caribbean Airlines is resuming our 2020 plans to expand routes in the Eastern Caribbean,” said CAL chief executive officer, Garvin Medera.

“This will begin from Barbados, as its borders are now open to commercial services. For us, improving connectivity is a strategy that has been in the making and we have carefully planned for this expansion, using data and other research to guide our decisions.”

The move by CAL comes as shareholder governments of the regional airline, LIAT, move towards the liquidation of the Antigua-based airline.

But Prime Minister Gaston Browne announced Tuesday that he had unveiled a reorganisation plan for the airline including the acquisition of the LIAT shares owned by Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados.

Browne said he expects the “far leaner and commercially viable” LIAT to become operations within the next 60 to 90 days.