The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has downgraded all six members of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) to a Category 2 rating for their failure to comply with ICAO safety standards. It did not elaborate on the nature of the breaches.
The six OECS countries - Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines - are jointly overseen by the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (ECCAA). While the British Overseas Territory of Montserrat is also a member of the organisation, as it is subject to the oversight of the UK Civil Aviation Authority, it retains a Category 1 rating shared with the UK proper and Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, and Turks and Caicos.
After losing Category 1 rating, air carriers from the affected countries are no longer allowed to establish service to the United States and codeshare with US carriers.
According to the ch-aviation schedules module, the only two routes affected by the downgrade are LIAT (Antigua and Barbuda) (Antigua) services from Antigua to San Juan Luis Muñoz Marin and St. Thomas Cyril E. King. US-based carriers, including airlines registered in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, can continue to serve the affected countries.
Out of the audited countries, the FAA maintains a Category 2 rating for Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Curacao, Ghana, Malaysia, Thailand, and Venezuela.
