Dear Editor,
I write to applaud EZjET for its plan to introduce direct service between Toronto and Guyana. These flights are badly needed. I recently visited Toronto and in conversations Guyanese complained about inadequate flights to accommodate their travel to reconnect with their homeland. There is a shortage of flights connecting Toronto and Guyana making it difficult for Guyanese Canadians to travel easily and relatively cheaply (as compared with Trinidadians or Jamaicans); the monopoly of another carrier drives Guyanese away from their homeland with higher fares. The Toronto flights are urgently needed and EZjet deserves kudos for undertaking this effort. EZjet’s service between JFK and Timehri and JFK and Trinidad as well as between Timehri and POS have led to lower fares and improved service for these destinations. It has been a turbulent time for the airline business (with most losing money) and the manager and owner of EZjet must be applauded for taking on this critical venture to serve Guyanese in North America and the Caribbean knowing the costs involved. No one should attack this carrier or its owner for initiating this service, or his loyalty and patriotism to our nation. The country benefits enormously from the service.
It is estimated that each traveller to Guyana spends about US$2,000 per trip and this has a multiplier effect of about five – bringing in foreign currency, creating jobs and helping the economy to grow.
The country also benefits from landing fees, airport usage tax, and exit tax – about US$45 that goes directly into the treasury and for the improvement of the airport. So each EZjet trip into Guyana from Toronto, with say a load of about 130 passengers adds some US $300K into the economy. Using a multiplier effect of five, some US$1M is circulating in the economy per trip from Toronto alone (using EZjet or any other carrier). The airline plans two trips a week from Toronto (that would inject about US$2M a week into the economy) and currently has five trips from JFK from where it has a larger passenger load of about 140 per trip (injecting into Guyana another US$5M a week).
The spending power and spread effects of EZjet’s passengers, in my estimation, contributes about US$7 million dollars a week – leaving aside air fares. In addition, the airline has created many jobs. It has promoted tourism to Guyana, brings in foreign currency, and showcases the country. And it has helped to boost the sluggish economy.
The government should find a way to assist the carrier so it can increase the number of its flights and lower its costs to encourage more Guyanese in North America to visit their homeland, further benefiting the economy.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
