President Donald Ramotar says that the main reason for granting Caribbean Airlines (CAL) flag carrier status was to access direct flights to destinations and lower fares.
“It will bring the cost down that people can fly direct. Like now, people are able to fly direct… The consideration is both an economic one and one for the convenience of the travelling public,” Ramotar told Stabroek News recently, when asked what prompted the decision.
Guyana flag carrier status was bestowed on CAL early last month on instructions from Ramotar and the Cabinet.
As the airline launched its inaugural non-stop flight from here to Canada, Minister of Transport and Hydraulics Robeson Benn had delivered the news at a simple ceremony to mark the occasion.
The move came amid two spectacular failures by airlines which had been servicing the Guyana route: Barbados-based REDjet and the local charter EZjet. A series of other airlines here had failed prior to these two.
Ramotar said that all was not lost for other airlines, since more than one can be given the flag-carrier status, making for additional benefits for the travellers. “As far as I am advised you can give more than one company flag carriership,” he noted.
Consultant for the Ogle Airport Inc Kit Nascimento feels that there is only one benefit to travellers and that is gaining direct flights. However, he said that is yet to be a reality since as far as he knows there are no direct flights to Miami by the airline. “There is no particular advantage for Guyana or to Guyana unless CAL decides to provide direct flights to North America for Guyanese. There is no other advantage other than that.
It should have been put on the agreement that there be an undertaking to provide both direct flights to New York and Miami for Guyanese,” he said.
Nascimento also noted that flag carrier status is not equivalent to lower fares, stating, “…all the benefit you get is direct flights.”
Several members of the public have voiced their opinions about the decision, saying that while it can be a good one, Guyanese first have to be privy to all that is included in the deal before coming to that decision.
“The pros and cons were never discussed by the Parliament of Guyana. …Embracing CAL could very well be a good thing for Guyana… What agreement did the two parties sign? How does this affect Delta and Surinam Airways, and future carriers plying the North American routes? What recourse does the government have if CAL disappoints the Guyanese people? Raymond Chickrie wrote, in a letter to Stabroek News.
Chickrie also questioned if Surinam Airways and Delta were consulted before the agreement with CAL was made and asked how the move by government affects the former’s plans to expand into Northern Brazil, New York and Toronto from Guyana.
Captain Gerry Gouveia had told this newspaper that the decision was long overdue since the airline has stuck with Guyana through “thick and thin” and the move will bring tremendous benefits for Guyanese and the country’s tourism sector.
“The benefits of this venture [are] tremendous for this country… Caribbean Airlines has been serving Guyana for over 70 years and through the good and bad times they have been here… been our most reliable connection with the Caribbean and the rest of the world,” Gouveia, the owner of local airline Roraima Airways and a former head of the Private Sector Commis-sion, said.
