Dr Colin Abrams
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the newly formed Guyana Airways has complained of the burdens of doing business in Guyana.
Dr Colin Abrams, a returning Guyanese, says he has been discouraged thousands of times during his attempts to set up the company here.
He made the remarks at a press conference hosted at his Barrack Street Office, one day afterthe airline won a court case against the State, effectively receiving the go-ahead to brand the company as “Guyana Airways Corporation Inc.”
Though relieved and ecstatic that he has won the case, Dr Abrams bemoaned the challenges he endured in setting up the airline.
“There is not a lot in Guyana to encourage businesses to invest in Guyana,” he stated.
“You have Go-Invest, they go out to the Diaspora… and they encourage Guyanese to come back in Guyana to invest. But when you do come back to invest, you get to the realization that “oh my god, I have to pay almost a million dollars in taxes”.”
Dr Abrams’ company, which aims to become Guyana’s national air carrier, faced major setbacks after it was unregistered by the Deeds and Commercial Registry when it was found that the name is “identical” to another company, which is Guyana Airways 2000 – the country’s previous national air carrier.
The unregistering of the company was done nearly two years after it was established, Dr Abrams noted.
Guyana Airways intended to start its operations last month but ended up spending millions in legal fees to win its case at Guyana’s High Court.
Having won the case and earned the right to use the name, the company will be submitting all the necessary documents to the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority to become licensed.
This process can take up to 90 days after which, the airline can launch its inaugural flight, once permission is granted.
As planned, the airline will target the Havana, Cuba market. So far it has employed over 100 Guyanese and it plans on hiring more.
Dr Abrams, a former Delta pilot, explained that it was extremely important for the company to be branded Guyana.
“For the past 17 years, Guyana had no national carrier…I thought it would have been an awesome deal for us to bring back the national pride. Get the pride coming back to Guyana,” he stated. (Devina Samaroo)
