The Ministry of Public Works today informed that Eastern Airlines LLC has advised that it is withdrawing scheduled air services to Guyana and as such its bond will be liquidated to cover liabilities to passengers.
In a notice in today’s Stabroek News, the ministry invited the general public to submit claims to the Ministry of Public Works if they are owed by Eastern Airlines for tickets purchased and not utilised.
Claims with supporting evidence of purchase are to be submitted in writing to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Works no later than July 16, 2021.
Citing low bookings for travel and a high number of cancellations by passengers on the Guyana to United States route, the rebranded Eastern Airlines on February 9th this year announced that it was temporarily suspending flights on the route, leaving the jobs of close to 150 in limbo.
A missive to the Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Egbert Field, from Senior Director of the airlines, Josh Bustos, stated, “Eastern Airlines regrets to inform you that we will be suspending service to Guyana for the next few months due to the ongoing pandemic and new travel restrictions in place.”
The decision came on the heels of the new COVID-19 restrictions that were implemented and took effect from January 26 this year.
Bustos had however assured that the airlines was in the process of reviewing all liabilities and ensuring that all their obligations are met in Guyana. He further stated that they were processing refunds for all affected passengers.
The Senior Director also indicated that the airline would consider returning to the route later in the year should travel restrictions be lifted and air travel return to a form of normalcy.
The suspension of operations in February caught the government by surprise as it was unaware of the airline’s decision.
According to a statement then from the Ministry of Public Works, “This decision by the airline, which commenced operations less than one year ago, is yet to be officially communicated to the Government of Guyana.”
The ministry said that the GCAA held several discussions with the company in February and during those discussions, there was no mention of the suspension of flights to Georgetown.
Eastern had previously served Guyana as Dynamic Airways. After serving the Guyana-New York route from the middle of 2014 with numerous delays, cancellations, and once running off the runway, Dynamic Airways quit the Guyana market in October, 2017. Hundreds of persons were left stranded, even as the airline assured that they would get refunds on their purchases. Only in May 2019 were passengers able to collect their refunds.
