Caribbean Airlines yesterday said that the need to comply with US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) guidelines is the reason for passengers having to dispose of their duty-free items bought in Guyana, once Trinidad is not their final destination.
On Thursday, the airline was issued an ultimatum by Guyana to honour contractual agreements pertaining to purchases made by passengers using the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) duty-free facility or see their service here terminated.
Passengers leaving Guyana have filed several complaints that when they make purchases at the duty-free stores at the CJIA, when they get to Trinidad, they cannot take the items further. This is because when passengers switch planes in Trinidad, they have to again go through that airport’s security checkpoint.
The letter sent by the CJIA to CAL states: “Take notice unless CAL remedies its aforesaid default and comply with the said notice of June 15, 2016, within 21 days of this notice to remedy default, CJIAC will be at liberty to proceed to cancel the air carrier agreement under article 9.3…”
In a release yesterday, the airline said that “as an international air carrier, Caribbean Airlines must comply with all regulatory directives of the sovereign states into which we operate, as do all other airlines.”
According to the airline, one such regulatory body is the TSA which governs the security processes and conducts audits for all carriers flying into the United States of America.
“In light of screening rules which are in accordance with TSA measures being applied at any Last Point of Departure (LPD) to the United States, and a recent TSA audit, a restriction on the entry of transit duty free into the sterile holding areas of all transit airports has been imposed.”
The airline added that consequently, “customers departing from Guyana or any other Caribbean destination with duty-free items who are connecting on flights to the United States on any airline cannot enter the sterile holding area of any airport through which they transit en route to the United States.”
Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson had told Stabroek News on Thursday that the CJIA Corporation was forced to issue the ultimatum after several complaints about the issue went unresolved. He said CJIA had written to CAL giving it until July 6 to comply or face termination of its air carrier agreement.
“What you had was persons carrying our Banks DIH and DDL bottles would not be allowed to proceed onward with them from Trinidad although they are in-transit. They say they can’t carry it because it is over the required fluid ounces for travel…but that is not a fault of the passengers,” Patterson said.
Stabroek News was made to understand that some passengers, upon reaching Piarco and being reminded of the policy, prefer to break the bottles and discard the alcoholic drinks rather than have them confiscated and there have been complaints by Trinidad security of the hazards that the practice poses.
“What the airport is seeking to do is [have] CAL [take] responsibility for the alcohol and take it and check them in and the passengers can have their purchases when they reach their destinations… we have … decades of fruitful relations with CAL and I know they will both work together to find a resolution,” Patterson, who is responsible for the civil aviation sector, said.
Veteran airline operator and CEO of Roraima Airlines Gerry Gouveia had defended CAL saying that the action by the CJIAC was premature as the airline should not be penalised for security measures not under its control.
“This is so unfair to Caribbean Airlines and someone was clearly misinformed. CAL does not control the security at the airport and by extension the Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority or Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (AATT). This is not their decision,” he said.
“This attack is totally unwarranted. Each country has to comply with TSA rules. There are what [are] called tamper proof bags but they are only applied to certain jurisdictions…. what is happening is not unique to CAL or Trinidad and Tobago.
“The airline is simply complying with the standards of the country because they have to maintain a standard or themselves face stiff penalties,” he added.
The airline added that it sought to balance its regulatory obligations with its customers’ desire to make duty-free purchases. “Customer comfort and convenience are top priorities of Caribbean Airlines and we continue to collaborate with stakeholders, including the Civil Aviation and Airport authorities to achieve a workable solution to ensure we remain compliant with the TSA regulations and provide quality service to our valued customers.”
