Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Robeson Benn, on Friday announced that plans are currently underway to ensure persons who purchased tickets from Red jet and EZjet are refunded in full as soon as possible.
During a press conference to comment on last year’s activities, Benn explained that though no payments have been made to persons who purchased tickets from EZjet before it suspended operations in November 2012, REDjet passengers have begun to be reimbursed for their losses.
REDjet formally filed for bankruptcy and its accompanying protections in June 2012. Last December, Stabroek News had reported that 70% of the claims submitted by customers for reimbursements were approved, and that customers would soon be receiving their cheques. Reimbursements had actually commenced on November 22 and are ongoing.
The payments, which are being managed by the Works Ministry, are made possible via the $40 million security bond which the carrier was required to lodge before it commenced operations.
The ministry yesterday stated that so far, $25 million had been mobilised to facilitate payments to approximately 715 families. It should be noted that this number represents those who would have made their claims manually via the Ministry of Public Work. The minister explained however, that several of these claims came from families who bought tickets in Barbados and other countries in which the carrier operated. He said these applications would be rejected since his ministry was only catering for individuals who bought tickets in Guyana.
The minister said a further $8.8 million is to be made available for an additional 263 persons who had submitted their applications online. Benn said that due to the nature of the applications, they were not initially taken into consideration when making preliminary estimates.
In the case of EZjet, the ministry stated that so far, they have received about 240 claims from persons who said they purchased tickets but were unable to fly after the airline ceased its operations. The ministry stated that so far accumulated claims requesting compensation amount to approximately $26 million.
These payments are also to be made from the $40 million which the airline was required to lodge as its security deposit prior to commencing its operations.
The ministry stated that all passengers desirous of making claims have until January 14 to do so, after which the claims period will be closed. After this time would have expired, passengers will no longer be able to make claims.
Last year the ministry had stated that several persons who had genuinely purchased of tickets to fly with REDjet would be unable to receive compensation because they failed to make their claims during the claims period.
The minister stated that after the claims exercise, the ministry will scrutinize the claims, and will therefore be able to conclude how many persons have to be refunded, and how much of the $40 million will have to be utilized to do so.
The minister said that while he is optimistic that enough funds exist to make all necessary payments, he hopes the ministry does not have to resort to making partial refunds.
Addressing claims that some sort of malfeasance took place during the consideration of EZjet’s licence to operate, the minister said that the Government of Guyana, through the Works Ministry did all that was required of it during the licensing process. He said the airline was scrutinized using the same yardstick used to assess REDjet, Caribbean Airlines, and that its methods were similar to those used by international bodies.
Benn stated that his primary interest in the agreement was ensuring that Guyanese were able to access cheap air travel to and from their homeland to visit their family and friends.
When asked about the confirmation of Caribbean Airlines as Guyana’s flag carrier, Benn said the airline qualified for the status given its reliability and endurance.
The announcement was made when the airline launched its inaugural non-stop flight from Guyana to Canada during a ceremony at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri.
Benn said that though the airline has seen more than its fair share of setbacks in the past, its operations have persisted and it has endured through the years. This, he said, along with meeting the technical requirements made the airline the best candidate at the time to be awarded flag carrier status.
However, he said the status does not exclusively belong to Caribbean Airlines since it is well within normal procedures for more than one airline to be flag carrier.
