Caribbean Airlines was yesterday given an ultimatum by Guyana to honour contractual agreements pertaining to purchases made by passengers using the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) duty-free facility or see their service here terminated.
“It is sad that it has come to this but I think it is a matter that is resolvable and I believe will be resolved,” Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson told Stabroek News yesterday. He said that the CJIA Corporation was forced to issue the ultimatum after several complaints about the issue went unresolved. The CJIA has written to CAL giving it until July 6 to comply or face termination of its air carrier agreement.
Passengers leaving Guyana have filed several complaints that when they make purchases at the duty-free stores at the CJIA, when they get to Trinidad, they cannot take the items further. This is because when passengers switch planes in Trinidad, they have to again go through that airport’s security checkpoint.
“What you had was persons carrying our Banks DIH and DDL bottles would not be allowed to proceed onward with them from Trinidad although they are in-transit. They say they can’t carry it because it is over the required fluid ounces for travel…but that is not a fault of the passengers,” Patterson said.
“What the airport is seeking to do is (have) CAL (take) responsibility for the alcohol and take it and check them in and the passengers can have their purchases when they reach their destinations…we have … decades of fruitful relations with CAL and I know they will both work together to find a resolution,” Patterson, who is responsible for the civil aviation sector, added.
The letter sent by the CJIAC to CAL states: “Take notice unless CAL remedies its aforesaid default and comply with the said notice of June 15, 2016, within 21 days of this notice to remedy default, CJIAC will be at liberty to proceed to cancel the air carrier agreement under article 9.3…”
For international travel, only 100 ml or 3.4 ounces of liquid, fitted into containers that can fit into a quart size resealable bag, are allowed with hand luggage to pass through security checkpoints. However, this does not apply to duty-free purchases which are usually beyond security checkpoints.
However, if an in-transit passenger has to transfer from one airline to another, the passenger would usually have pass through security again where the 100 ml rule would be enforced.
Stabroek News understand that some passengers, upon reaching Piarco and being reminded of the policy, prefer to break the alcoholic drinks than have them confiscated and there have been complaints by Trinidad security of the hazards that the practice poses. It is not clear whether the passengers were transferring from CAL to another airline or were continuing with CAL.
Patterson said that it does not augur well for local businesses such as Banks DIH and DDL while the CJIA’s duty-free section is losing revenue since passengers knowing the policy, are not purchasing. “The duty-free shops not getting any business from persons on those flights and that is not good for our local business…persons just want to be able to purchase our rums and so on and be able to collect them in the US or England, wherever they are going,” Patterson explained.
When contacted by this newspaper in Port-of-Spain, CAL’s Corporate Communications Department said that its Manager Dionne Ligoure will respond to the issue.
However, veteran airline operator and CEO of Roraima Airlines Gerry Gouveia defended CAL saying that the action by the CJIAC was premature as the airline should not be penalised for security measures not under their control.
“This is so unfair to Caribbean Airlines and someone was clearly misinformed. CAL does not control the security at the airport and by extension the Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority or Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (AATT). This is not their decision,” he said.
“This attack is totally unwarranted. Each country has to comply with TSA (Transportation Safety Administration) rules. There are what is called tamper proof bags but they are only applied to certain jurisdictions….what is happening is not unique to CAL or Trinidad and Tobago.
The airline is simply complying with the standards of the country because they have to maintain a standard or themselves face stiff penalties,” he added.
Gouveia, a graduate of the George Washington University in Aviation Safety and Security, said that the same policy applies globally when persons have to in-transit. “We just have to come to grips with what are the rules and if we have to in-transit in Trinidad then we can’t buy,” he said.
