The establishment of the awaited National Airport Authority can be expected soon, according to Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson, who also reported yesterday that a review of operations at the Eugene F Correia International Airport (EFCIA) has been completed.
“The draft report has been out… basically it is a review of the lease and other issues. The report highlighted what is known, that is the need for the establishment of the Airport Review Committee and those things,” Patterson told a press conference yesterday.
He explained that he would not go into details of the draft report but will await the final report, which he will discuss with stakeholders and ministers of his government, before making it public.
“When the report is finally submitted, I will sit first with NATA and OAI [Ogle Airport Inc.] and the Aircraft Owners Association and from that do a comprehensive submission, which I will have to discuss with Cabinet. You may question why the draft was not discussed prior to being finalised. It is a report on behalf of GCAA [Guyana Civil Aviation Authority] and on behalf of the ministry and it was very specific to direct the ministry and GCAA on what was found. It is not a blame document to take one side or the other, it is to recommend for us the way forward,” he said.
However, he did point out that the establishment of the National Airport Authority can be expected within three to four weeks of the report’s submission. “As soon as we are finished our rounds of consultation …as soon as I put all the mechanisms in place, it will be established. I would hope we could do it between three to four weeks but obviously we would have to have discussions with the stakeholders,” Patterson added.
During the ceremony for the renaming of the Ogle Airport to EFCIA this year, Patterson had said that a review of the operations would inform the way forward for the GCAA and the ministry.
The renaming of the airport saw bitter complaints as a majority of the operators at the then Ogle Airport were against the renaming as they said it would give an unfair advantage to the Correia Group, which is a major player in the company running the airport.
It also saw a bid in the High Court by the National Air Transport Association (NATA), which comprises nine aggrieved airport operators, to have the renaming halted but it was unsuccessful. The nine operators are Air Services Limited (ASL), Roraima Airways, Hinterland Aviation, Oxford Aviation, Phoenix Airways, Domes-tic Airways, Jags Aviation, Wings Aviation and Hopkinson Mining Aviation.
Then, Patterson told the aggrieved operators that their concerns would be addressed in the review. “Operators who oppose today’s renaming have complained that this act will give an unfair advantage to a specific operator. Their concerns cannot be dismissed as something without merit therefore this will also be addressed during our review process,” the minister had said.
He assured, that their concerns had not fallen on deaf ears and that the renaming would not “drive the final nail in the coffin” of those who feel that they have become disadvantaged.
Patterson had also pointed out that government was focusing on the lease of the facility to the OAI. “…I give my firm assurance that this separate exercise will be done transparently and the renaming of the airport will not affect the outcome or direction of the government in this matter,” the minister said.
Yesterday, Patterson stressed that government will look at the “whole Ogle airport holistically.”
NATA recently called again 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 at the airport. Its call came in light of its concerns about congestion at the facility.
