Following the announcement of an increase in fees at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has slammed the unilateral measure and the downgraded specifications of the airport expansion project.

This was ventilated during his weekly press conference on Wednesday, where the former President criticised the fact that these new charges were sprung on passengers without any consultation.
“At the Airport now there is confusion if you call, long delays. These charges were sprung upon us, without any consultation with the airlines or anyone else. And what are we paying back for?”
The justification for the increases had been the Airport’s ongoing expansion project. According to Jagdeo, however, Guyana is being ripped off because the Government has downgraded the specifications of the project.
For example, he noted that Guyana was originally supposed to get eight air bridges. However, they have been reduced to four air bridges and with the decrease, lost a substantial size of the airport expansion. He noted that they would have gotten a new terminal building, with enough room to accommodate eight aircraft.
“I travel out of the airport and I get extremely angry every time. Because I know what the contract was and what kind of airport we were supposed to receive and I look what we’re getting now. And I get extremely angry because we’re being ripped off, because of complicity with this Ministry.”
“In the original design, we had to have eight (air bridges). So they had to build the terminal building to accommodate eight, plus the parking apron. By reducing, not only are you reducing the number of air bridges, you are reducing a substantial size of the airport, plus the apron on which those aircraft have to stand. So we should have had an entirely new terminal building. Now the terminal building is a rehabilitation work.”

Increases
As of April 1, arriving and departing passengers at the CJIA will have to pay an additional US$35; all to support the ongoing CJIA expansion project.
This was confirmed by Caribbean Airlines on Tuesday – one of the major airline carriers at the airport. According to the airline, both the airport security fee and the airport passenger service charge will be increased.
“The total cost of the new fees to all travellers for a return trip is US$35 or GY$7315. For departing passengers, US$17 and US$15 for arriving passengers payable in Guyana dollars at the prevailing foreign exchange rate,” the airline had said.
According to Caribbean airlines, CJIA had advised all airlines that these increases were to support improvements at the airport. According to the airline, it will be facilitating the collection of the new fees at the check in counters and arrival hall for departing and arriving customers respectively, from April 15.
“For tickets purchased after July 1, 2019, the fees will automatically be included in the cost of the ticket at the time of purchase,” Caribbean Airlines added in its statement.

CJIA expansion
For some time, the Public Infrastructure Ministry has faced questions over the CJIA expansion project’s costs and delayed construction. The project was initially supposed to have been completed within 32 months.
But by January, with the project still not completed, Government had ruled out extending the last date for China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC) to complete the Cheddi Jagan International Airport Expansion Project which was set for March 31.
Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson had warned that CHEC would be fined more than GY$200,000 or US$7000 per day if it missed the latest deadline to complete the project.
The project got underway in 2012, under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration when Guyana secured a US$138 million loan from the China Exim (Export-Import) Bank to fund the expansion and modernisation project, for which the Guyana Government was to contribute some US$12 million.
The A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC), when in Opposition, had cut the funding the then PPP/C Government had allocated for the expansion project.
When the coalition Government came into power in 2015, the project was put on hold, but after discussions between Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson and CHEC, it was later announced that the project would be continued.