Passengers, who were affected by the collapse of regional airline REDjet, will soon receive their ticket refunds as the authorities have moved to a private bank to secure the bond lodged by the airline.
Some 829 requests and counting have been made to the Ministry of Public Works, which has responsibility for Transport, for refunds from the airline and the figure translates to more than 3,000 persons who were affected by the airline’s collapse.
The airline officially folded last month when its principals announced that it had filed for bankruptcy protection, leaving many passengers across the region in the red as regards monies paid to travel with the low-cost airline.
The ministry here commenced the processing of refunds to affected passengers two months ago and according to Derrick Jodhan, Principal Assistant Secretary at the Ministry of Public Works, the agency continues to receive requests although the one-month period in which the claims were to be made ended a long time ago. He said that to date, some 829 requests have been made by affected persons.
He explained that the passengers would have filled a form with the relevant ticketing information and payment being claimed, and according to him as many as four persons could make the request for repayment on a single form.
“What has happened is that you have some persons travelling as a family so it’s in those cases that you will see the actual number of passengers,” he said.
Jodhan noted that the figures can reach between 2000 to 3000 persons and according to him the repayment process will begin soon.
He said that the agency has contacted the defunct airline as regards repayment but with little assurance.
However, he noted that the funds from the bond, a $40M sum which was lodged with the ministry, will be utilized to repay the passengers.
He said that the ministry has written to Republic Bank (Guyana) Ltd to secure the bond and according to him as repaying the affected passengers remains a priority, the agency will be writing to Cabinet soon in order to expedite the repayment process.
He said that affected persons have been calling the ministry’s offices as regards their refunds and he noted that many have displayed anger.
“You will find it because it is their money and one has to understand their situation so we are working around the clock on the process,” he said.
He noted that persons are still making requests for refunds since they were not aware of the advertisement on ticket refunds.
Meantime, REDjet also has a bill to settle with the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri. Jodhan stated that the two agencies combined are owed approximately $32M for landing and air navigation fees and it is unclear how such monies will be recouped.
REDjet entered the local travel market two years ago with ambitious plans to cut the cost of travel within the region. However, in March this year the airline suspended its flights, citing what it termed cut-throat competition among regional carriers and it also charged that there were unfair subsidies of other airlines.
On Friday, June 8, the airline formally signalled its closure and indicated that it had applied for bankruptcy protection.
Attempts to get financing from the Barbados and Guyana governments had failed.
REDjet had been well-patronised in Guyana by customers who had been hooked by the low rates – some beginning at US$3.99 plus taxes, and a number of direct routes from here had been introduced.
There had been concerns, however, that a low-budget carrier would have a hard time surviving in the region because of its island-hopping geography.
Guyana, Jamaica, Anti-gua, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago were serviced by REDjet.
