The Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) has said it lost $1.4 billion in revenues over the last six months, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused a 95% drop in passenger traffic.
In a statement issued on Friday, the CJIA said the recent reopening of the country to commercial air traffic is expected to see passenger arrivals double over the next month as several carriers, including Caribbean Airlines, American Airlines, and COPA Airlines, have applied and have been approved to resume commercial flight operations.
Meanwhile, the CJIA noted that it has attained the Airport Health Accreditation (AHA) from the Airports Council International, Latin America and the Caribbean Region (ACI-LAC). It explained that the ACI Airport Health Accreditation programme provides airports with an assessment of how aligned their health measures are when compared to the International Civil Aviation Organization(ICAO) Council Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) recommendations as well as with industry best practices. “This, CJIA believes, will give the airlines and passengers alike, the confidence that the safety measures implemented are in line with international standards,” it added. Travellers destined for Guyana are required to obtain a negative PCR test taken within seven days, prior to their arrival, and those with tests within four to seven days prior to arrival at CJIA will be subjected to a second PCR test.
From on-site PCR testing at the airport conducted since the resumption of comnmerical flights last Monday, the CJIA reported that all the passengers who have been tested on arrival have been negative for COVID-19.
