The governments of Barbados, Antigua & Barbuda, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines, have agreed to inject ECD5 million (USD1.85 million) into regional carrier LIAT (Antigua and Barbuda) (Antigua) the Vincentian prime minister Ralph Gonsalves has announced.

Speaking following a shareholders meeting, Gonsalves said the island of Dominica, which also owns part of LIAT, had not been asked to contribute given their ongoing recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Erika.

The funding is needed to plug a shortfall in the airline's finances which this year will see it registering a loss of ECD9.2 million (USD3.4 million) despite progress made in its restructuring programme.

According to the Barbados Advocate, Gonsalves said smaller islands that benefit from LIAT's services, but which do not own a stake in the airline, will also be asked to increase their subsidies if they want increased connectivity.

On the other hand, he also noted that as part of its turnaround plan, LIAT will undertake a review of its network with non-performing routes to be dropped.

Both moves will likely prove contentious given St. Lucia and Grenada have already warned they will not dole out any further funding to LIAT until it improves its quality of service.