The Cheddi Jagan International Airport Corporation (CJIAC) has announced that effective May 11, 2019, all airport-related charges will be included in the passenger ticket price.
In April, the airport had advised travelers of an increase in its airport security fee, and the introduction of a passenger service charge, which had taken effect from April 1. As a result, the cost to travelers for a return (round) trip is now US$35 (GY$7,315), while for departing passengers it is US$17 and for one-way departing passengers it is US$15, payable in Guyana dollars at the prevailing foreign exchange rate.
The CJIAC had advised all airlines that the fees are to support the improvements at the airport.
A release from the CJIAC yesterday noted that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has incorporated the fees into the price of the ticket, eliminating the need for passengers to pay the charges separately.
“The Management of CJIAC wishes to thank the airlines and IATA for their support in expediting this process. Further, the Airport Corporation remains committed to providing an exemplary and hassle-free travel experience to all passengers and airport users,” the release stated.
CJIAC had been the target of criticism over the announcement of the new charges, including from IATA, which had expressed concern over the implementation of the new fees and called for immediate dialogue with the management of the airport and the Ministry of Public Infrastructure. The organisation had pointed out that it has worldwide standards in place enabling airlines to collect government-imposed fees, service charges and taxes as part of an airline ticket. These are then transferred to the respective governments. It noted that this has provided a smoother travel experience for passengers by eliminating the former practice, whereby many governments manually collected some of these fees and taxes at airports.
In a statement, IATA quoted Peter Cerda, it’s Regional Vice President for the Americas as saying, “It is completely unacceptable that passengers are being inconvenienced in such a manner. This is a direct result of the airport’s management refusal to engage with IATA on a process which is standard practice across the globe. As a consequence, our member airlines have unfortunately no choice other than to manually collect the additional fees and charges.”
