Barbuda Airways may take to the skies soon

The island of Barbuda looks at last set to have its own airline, according to reports.

Barbuda Airlines is understood to have completed long-awaited compliance and licensing requirements, with the Antigua Observer reporting that the full launch could be “within weeks”.

But in a statement from the CEO of Caribbean Helicopters, who are leading the project, Neil Dickenson declined to tie himself to a firm deadline.

July 2016 saw the start of the lengthy process of registration and safety checks, Observer Media reports.

Two Britten-Norman Islander aircrafts needed to be added to Caribbean Helicopters’ aircraft operator certificate, as well as other required needed by the Easter Caribbean’s aviation body, the ECCAA.

“It’s been a long drawn out process which to be frank I had not envisaged, and cost a lot of time and investment capital which took us by surprise,” Dickenson told the media outlet.

“We’ve never had that aircraft before and as result we had to satisfy a tremendous amount of regulations to make sure that operation and maintenance procedures come up to the level required.”