The National Air Transport Association (NATA) has raised concerns over congestion at the Eugene F Correia International Airport, whose spokesman Kit Nascimento has called the claims “nonsense.”
In a press release issued on Sunday, NATA voiced its concerns about the effects of “serious congestion” at the airport as a result of what it said is the “inequitable development” at the facility and the mixing of domestic and international flights.
“There are over one hundred domestic flights operating daily which contribute significantly to hinterland and national development which are seriously affected by confined areas on the airport runway, apron and taxiways,” the statement said.
It noted that there are currently nine aircraft operators that have no other option than sharing an older winding taxiway to access the runway, which leads to much congestion and costly delays.
The statement added that the situation has worsened over the years since newer operators have come into existence and the older ones have expanded their operations without enabling infrastructure, such as a new taxiway to the runway, which NATA said is “essential for efficient and safe operations.”
“This unhealthy situations is further compounded by congested airspace. NATA is extremely concerned about the issues of operational safety under the present environment,” the statement said, while pointing out that the association has made representation to Ogle Airport Inc. (OAI) on behalf of its members to no avail.
As a result, it is urging the government to accelerate the review process for remedies to the present “anti-competitive and inequitable development of the airport.”
It also called for “the urgent establishment of the long overdue National Airport Authority,” which it said would ensure a fair, equitable and safe environment for both domestic and international operators.
In an invited comment, Nascimento, a consultant of OAI, stated that, “there is absolutely no congestion at the airport.”
He added, “We are the busiest airport in the Caribbean and we are proud of that fact. We have flight operations, takeoff and landing, occurring almost every five minutes. The traffic control is run through the tower by the GCCA [Guyana Civil Aviation Authority], not the airport,” he said, while adding that had there been any difficulty in processing traffic in and out of the airport, then the GCAA, which is the regulatory body, would have lodge complaints with the airport’s management.
“We have never had a complaint from the GCAA on that subject, so it is nonsense,” Nascimento added.
He explained that individual operators, which are residential operators, either have their own hangars and smaller operators are provided with a special area. He highlighted that there have been no complaints from any operator about parking or accessing the main runway in order to take off or land.
“I think NATA rather than make these sort of undocumented complaints, which seem to be selfishly motivated, need to document their complaints to the appropriate regulatory agency,” he said, while stating that NATA should contact the GCAA to discuss its concerns.
