The National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) has denied a request for a relief flight to repatriate citizens of United States who are stranded here due to the current COVID-19 restrictions on air travel.
“We requested clearance for a seventh commercial relief flight to operate from Georgetown to Miami next Friday May 22, 2020. However, we regret to inform you that it was not approved,” the US Embassy informed interested citizens in an alert that was released yesterday on social media.
“We are aware of the hardship land and airspace border closures have created for U.S. Citizens who need to return to the United States after Guyana closed it airspace to commercial fight on March 18th. To date we have requested special permission from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority to operate service for six commercial relief flights to transport Americans and their families home,” the alert said.
The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) in the past months have recommended to the NCTF that permission can be granted to allow outgoing flights. However, the rationale behind the decision to deny this relief flight is unclear. Efforts to contact Egbert Field, Director General of the GCAA for a comment proved futile.
Guyana’s airspace is expected to reopen on June 3rd following a two-month closure.
The embassy said that it has been continuously monitoring the situation here in respect to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The embassy in its alert advised that it will be posting regular updates on health, security and travel information through its travel alert system and on its Facebook Page as information becomes available.
On a few occasions Eastern Airlines was granted approval to operate special humanitarian relief flights to transport persons to and from the US.
