In the wake of the pullout of Delta Airlines from Guyana earlier this month, Stabroek Business has learnt that the government may shortly be dispatching a high-level delegation to the United States in an effort to secure a suitably prestigious replacement for Delta.
Chief Executive Officer of Roraima Airways Inc Gerry Gouveia told Stabroek Business in an interview earlier this week that he believed that with the departure of Delta, government was now seeking to “find an airline of comparable stature” to service the route between Georgetown and the United States. Gouveia was unable to confirm a time frame for the planned US visit though this newspaper understands that it is likely to be in the short term and that the ‘search team’ is likely to be headed by Acting Tourism Minister Irfaan Ali and supported by aviation industry officials.
Meanwhile, Gouveia said that the withdrawal of Delta Airlines’ service to Guyana was likely to hurt the country in more ways than one. He explained that Roraima Airways had held the contract for Delta’s ground handling operations at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri for five years and that the loss of the contract “had definitely hurt Roraima.”
Asked whether it was likely that there could be resulting job losses, Gouveia said the Delta development and its likely implications for Roraima were currently the subject of discussion at management level within the company.
Gouveia said Delta’s pullout leaves Guyana with “real and valid concerns” as the loss of the service could have implications for visitor arrivals in Guyana during the summer and Christmas periods. “It goes beyond Roraima. Reduced visitor arrivals will have implications for both the tourism and service sectors unless we can find a suitable international airline to replace Delta,” Gouveia said.
Asked whether Delta’s departure may have been the result of economic considerations, Gouveia said that he doubted that that was the case since Delta’s fares were at the high end of the scale and the flights were usually filled.
Stating that the loss of the Delta service was something which Guyana should be concerned over, Gouveia told Stabroek Business that in his view the introduction of the Delta service here was “the single most important aviation development” to occur in Guyana in ten years. “Branded international airlines can bring other benefits to a country and it does not surprise me that government now appears to be seized of the importance of securing an adequate replacement,” Gouveia said.
