Latest update May 13th, 2024 12:59 AM
Oct 05, 2014 News
By Zena Henry
In an attempt to reassure the local travelling public that last year’s inconvenience following the fall out of several air
carriers will not reoccur, Minister of Public Works Robeson Benn says that
“This year offers more capacity in terms of (air) carriers and seat availability, hence additional competition will lead to better prices for the travelling public.”
The Minister spoke to concerns that passengers might be at the mercy of airlines which remained on the Georgetown/New York route. That market is a lucrative one, with thousands of citizens living in the Diaspora and travelling regularly, particularly at peak holiday seasons.
With two prominent airlines remaining, concerns are already being raised as to whether ticket prices would increase by December, when the Christmas season begins.
Last year some airlines and charter companies plying the GT/NY route fell out of the race leaving Trinidadian carrier Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) to run the Guyanese market. Around this time last year, passengers were paying as much as US$1600 to NY since CAL had the monopoly.
This year, Travel Span returned, Dynamic Airways joined in, and toward the end of 2013, Fly Jamaica was already on board as competition for CAL.
However, today only CAL and Fly Jamaica are left standing and passengers seem to be biting their fingernails as travel agents said that they were being questioned about rising ticket prices.
Minister Benn said, however, that over the years his ministry has worked diligently to ensure additional airlift into and out of Guyana, thus offering passengers more choice of carriers to different destinations.
He said the nation has been successful in that mission, as during the last year there have been new services being offered by Conviasa, Insel Air, COPA Airlines and Fly Jamaica.
“This sort of achievement within such a short period of time is unprecedented in the aviation industry.”
He said passengers wishing to travel to the US, depending on their final destination, can do so via Caribbean Airlines (CAL), COPA Airlines, Insel Air, Suriname Airways (SLM) and Fly Jamaica. COPA, Fly Jamaica and Caribbean Airlines offer services to New York while SLM, COPA and CAL also offer services Miami.
In the case of Travel Span which left the Guyanese market two weeks ago, Minister Benn said that the Ministry is in contact with the entity’s management and has been assured that all passengers with tickets will be fully refunded.
“The Government of Guyana has always had an interest in protecting the consumer and for this reason we put in place an escrow account where new non-scheduled carriers are required to deposit monies which can be used to refund passengers if the airline suspends their operations.
“The Ministry continues to pursue additional airlift to Guyana and only last week two of its senior officials attended the World Routes Conference where meetings were held with several legacy and low cost carriers who expressed an interest in offering services to the North American and European markets.”
“There is no doubt that Guyana is an attractive market for some of these carriers, since a large number of Guyanese live in the Diaspora in North America and the United Kingdom. The fact that our economy has shown positive growth in the last eight years is an added bonus since there is a direct link between passenger growth and positive GDP in any market,” Minister Benn stated
The Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) expansion project, the Minister added, is a prime selling point for potential investors. He called on members of the political arena to support efforts that will attract new carriers through infrastructural developmental.
He said, “The current runway and terminal do not have the capacity to accommodate long haul carriers from Europe and more economical aircraft to North America, and this is hampering our negotiations with these carriers.”
Listen how to run an oil country
May 13, 2024
GCB T10 Blast Semi-finals… Kaieteur Sports – The semi-finals of the GCB T10 Blast will get underway today, barring inclement weather as the final four teams look to book spots in the...Kaieteur News – The PPP is engaging in myth-making in seeking to perpetuate the narrative that it is now an ideologically... more
By Sir Ronald Sanders Is it ever justifiable for journalism to fan the flames of geopolitical tension? This question arises... more
Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.
Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]