The Eugene F Correia Inter-national Airport (EFCIA) at Ogle is prepared to receive its first commercial traffic since the COVID lockdown – a Caribbean Airlines (CAL) flight from Barbados on Monday.
While no details have been confirmed for this flight by the airline, EFCIA says they are expecting it on Monday.
Since the closure of the airports on March 17, the airport has been facilitating repatriation flights between Guyana and Barbados.
A senior CAL official at its Guyana office when contacted yesterday, told this newspaper that they are currently ironing out the details of the flight and will be making an announcement in a day’s time.
The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority had also said that they are finalising flight arrangements with the airlines.
During a tour of EFCIA yesterday, Operations Manager Phillip Lynch told Stabroek News that they are ready to accommodate commercial flights as all necessary protocols have been put in place to meet COVID-19 guidelines.
Lynch explained to Stabroek News that they are equipped with two booths that will be used to collect COVID-19 PCR test samples. He explained that the booths will be sanitized before and after they are used.
In a statement on Monday, the airport said EFCIA, in collaboration with Eureka Medical Laboratory, will be fully equipped to carry out the sampling for the PCR COVID-19 tests for passengers arriving at the airport.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Eureka Medical Laboratory Andrew Boyle, whose company is tasked with performing the PCR tests, has said that his laboratory has the capacity to meet the demand.
The CEO disclosed that their lab, which is on track to obtain international accreditation for their COVID-19 testing, has the capacity to conduct approximately 2,000 tests per day.
He said that they have ramped up their orders for materials and a part of the shipment is expected to arrive shortly.
The airport has also installed facilities to accommodate Port Health Authorities. During the tour, Stabroek News was able to observe that signage encouraging social distancing, and hand washing and sanitising was in place.
Passengers entering Guyana are required to present a negative PCR test for COVID-19 done within seventy-two hours of travel. This allows them to exit the airport and be on their way after clearing Port Health Authorities, Immigration, and Customs.
As a second option, passengers will also be allowed entry into Guyana if they are able to present a negative PCR result of a test taken within four to seven days (4-7) of travel. However, they will be required to do another test upon arrival in Guyana after which the passengers will be free to proceed to their homes or hotels where they will remain isolated. Results will be relayed to all passengers within 24 hours.
The minister explained that the negative PCR test result will have to be shown to the airline operator during the check-in process at the airport of embarkation. And, subsequently, the negative PCR test result will also have to be shown to the Port Health Officials upon arrival at Guyana’s international airports (CJIA or EFCIA).
