The governments of Guyana and Aruba yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will see direct flights from Georgetown to Aruba soon, according to the Department of Public Information (DPI).
The MOU was signed at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) where the 2018 International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Air Transport Meeting is ongoing.
Director-General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Retired Lieutenant Colonel, Egbert Field said the initiative began a few months ago after Aruba Airlines signalled its intention to begin flights to Guyana.
Temporary approval was granted by Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson for the airline to conduct its operation, after which the legal team exchanged documents which led to the signing of the MOU.
“We must proceed with open skies, that’s the view of this authority. We must go further afield in the signing of not only MOUs, but air services agreements. These instruments are the elements and basis on which airlines could ride on. There must be increased equipment, with this in place, any airline wishing to operate in Guyana is invited to apply to conduct operations. The doubling of air traffic will have a boom for them. GCAA is happy to complete the agreement,” the Director-General said.
Acting Director-General, Department of Civil Aviation, Aruba, Anthony Kirchner said he considers the signing as the beginning of discussions for further MOUs and agreements in helping Guyana and Aruba with the necessary airlift.
“It was a task to fulfil all the gaps but it is finalised and we hope to get more airlines between Guyana and Aruba. We also hope that we can arrange, with the help of Aruba Airlines, to have direct flights to Guyana and this agreement will definitely be the start of further negotiations in the future,” Kirchner said.
Aruba is part of the Dutch Caribbean.
