ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC) – The Antigua and Barbuda government says it is considering the establishment of its own radar system to manage airspace across the northern Leeward Islands as it seeks to generate revenue for the services now being provided by Trinidad and Tobago.

Chief of Staff in the Office of the Prime Minister, Ambassador Lionel Hurst, told the post-cabinet news conference that the initiative is part of a broader effort to create alternative sources of non-tax revenue for the country.

“Our airspace is one of them. If we find that we can do it for ourselves and others around us and earn an income, then we ought to do it, and that’s exactly what we are set off to do.”

He said Trinidad and Tobago currently oversees radar coverage for several regional air routes and collects associated fees from airlines entering the region’s airspace. He said St John’s hopes to offer a competitive alternative that could provide radar services to neighbouring islands.

Hurst told reporters that while details of the proposed system’s timeline and cost are still being finalised, the ministry of aviation has been tasked with developing a plan and submitting a proposal to Cabinet

Hurst said potential earnings would depend on how many countries opt to utilise Antigua and Barbuda’s system.

“The revenue potential we cannot say as yet. It will depend on how many of the northern Leeward Islands we might be able to attract away from using the Trinidad system,” he said, adding that the radar proposal has been supported by the director general of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Dr Didacus Jules.

A statement issued following the Cabinet meeting noted that Jules had been invited to the meeting to discuss issues relating to aviation and transatlantic connections between the Caribbean and West Africa.

The statement quoted him as saying that all the countries of the Eastern Caribbean, inclusive of Guadeloupe and Martinique, utilise a radar system that is managed by Trinidad and Tobago; therefore, all fees which air carriers pay for the freedom to fly in the airspace of these countries are paid over to Trinidad and Tobago.

The statement said that the OECS director general is of the view that Antigua and Barbuda “could in fact sell those same services to the countries of the Northern Leeward Islands with the implementation of such a radar system”.

“Dr Jules successfully persuaded the Cabinet to accept that flights from many West African countries have a shorter distance to fly to Antigua than to any other Eastern Caribbean country.”

The statement said that Jules has encouraged the Cabinet to continue to pursue the development of links between West Africa and Antigua and Barbuda.

“The Cabinet successfully enabled Air Peace to invest in putting LIAT (2020) back in the air for more than one year at this time, allowing Caribbean nationals to experience the enhanced connectivity that once was common.

“Many small airlines began operating along routes that LIAT (1974) used to service, and the routes have become very competitive, though the prices of airline tickets have become very high, Dr Jules indicated,” the statement added.