Sky Services Limited is putting on an extra flight to Canada tomorrow to accommodate some displaced Zoom passengers, but most of the airline’s other passengers will have to be refunded in full.
This is according to Constellation Tours manager, Sharmilla Ramsammy. Speaking briefly with this newspaper yesterday, Ramsammy said Constellation managed to get Sky Services to accommodate some of its passengers and while she said every effort was being made to find alternative means for other passengers, the majority of them will have to be refunded in full.
Zoom on Thursday last announced the suspension of its operations due to bankruptcy proceedings. Zoom had provided a weekly charter service between Toronto and Guyana on Tuesday each week.
Stabroek News understands that Sky Services has already requested and has been granted permission from the airport authorities to put on the extra flight.
Two hundred passengers across the Caribbean destinations that Zoom served have been inconvenienced by the sudden announcement from Zoom.
In a statement making public its position, Zoom said on its website that it sincerely regretted having to advise its customers of the suspension of its operations. It disclosed also that all its flights had been cancelled and aircraft grounded.
The statement quoted Hugh and John Boyle, the founders of Zoom, as saying that the suspension of operations was a result of the exceptionally difficult trading conditions which affected all airlines over the last year.
They said they had worked hard over the last seven years to build a successful business but had incurred losses in the current year due to the unprecedented increase in the price of aviation fuel and economic failure.
The men were also quoted as saying that they regretted the fact that they were forced to suspend all Zoom operations, noting that it was a tragic day for its passengers and more than 600 staff.
