Eleven countries ready to land flights in Guyana … awaiting completion of CJIA expansion — GCAA Director
GUYANA is actively pursuing international airlines to enter the local market, either as a transit point or a destination, said Civil Aviation Department (GCAA) Director Mr Zulficar Mohamed. But flights coming from Europe and further afield are ‘long-haul flights’, and given the limited length of the runway at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), such ventures are currently not possible.Mohamed made this disclosure recently whilst giving a performance review of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) in the presence of Works Minister Robeson Benn, department heads, and those in attendance at the Ministry’s Kingston Office in Georgetown. He elaborated that while many countries have expressed an interest in operating in Guyana, the existing length of the runway deters such operations.
He said Guyana attended the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Air Services Negotiation event in Bali, Indonesia as recently as November, and met and held talks with representatives from 13 countries across the world. He reported that Guyana entered into agreements with Canada, China, CuraÇao (Kingdom of the Netherlands), Ghana, Iceland, Kenya, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Qatar, Singapore and the United Kingdom, 11 of which can be brought into force if a significant bugbear were removed.
Guyana Civil Aviation Department Director, Zulficar Mohamed
Mohamed said also that, while in Indonesia, the Guyanese team “did presentations which highlighted Guyana, and (we) showed them the development that we are about to undertake.”
He cautioned, however, that “when you talk about airlines operating from Europe and further east, you are talking about long-haul aircraft; without the runway capacity to handle those aircraft, it’s going to be a no-no.”
The GCAA Director reported that while many countries across the world have expressed an interested in operating in Guyana, “we have to ensure that we have the facilities to accommodate them when they’re ready to come…. What we are doing here is that we are laying the groundwork for that.”
With the Agreements in place, he said, the way is paved for those countries to begin operating flights into Guyana when the CJIA expansion project is completed.
Substantive Minister Benn, during the course of the performance review, was also asked about the US$150M CJIA Expansion Project and its funding, since there was no opposition support for the 2014 allocations. He responded by pointing to the Chief Justice’s recent ruling, which he said guides Government.
“As far as I am aware, the Chief Justice pronounced that they (political Opposition) could not cut the money; that is what I recall,” Minister Benn said.
He was making reference to the ‘Budget Cuts’ where, from 2012 to 2014, the political opposition has denied support for large chunks of the annual estimates that were provided by Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh.
Benn said all monies expended on the project during the course of last year will be reflected on the requisite documentation for the National Assembly, namely the Statement of Excesses.
“These are funds which are given to us, and we have to use…it has to be used or you lose it…it absolutely have to be spent for the national good,” Benn said.
CJIA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ramesh Ghir, in his performance review, lauded the fact that, for the third year, CJIA operations have seen revenue in excess of $1B.
Ghir said that the local aviation sector also saw a modest increase in operations, with Caribbean Airlines being responsible for the transit of the bulk of passengers entering and leaving Guyana’s jurisdiction. Caribbean Airlines flew 366,880 passengers in and out of Guyana last year.
Travel Span, which commenced flights out of the CJIA in December, 2013 with a Boeing 767 aircraft, had flown in excess of 32,000 passengers before it suspended operations in September last, citing expenses incurred from the numerous cancelled flights and increased operational costs as the reason for its decision to cease operations.
Fly Jamaica also topped the 30,000 mark in terms of the number of passengers brought in and taken out of Guyana. That airline commenced operating in August 2013.
Other operators landing flights in and out of Guyana include Insel Air and Dynamic Airways, which commenced operations in June 2014; as well as COPA Airlines, Conviasa and LIAT.
Jet aircraft landings in Guyana, according to Ghir, increased from 2,523 to 2,933 last year, due mainly to the introduction of additional flights from COPA, CONVIASA, FLY Jamaica, INSEL AIR And Dynamic Airways.
On the domestic front, it was reported that, during the past year, several local operators were granted permission to expand their capacity with an additional 17 aircraft. --- (By Gary Eleazar)
