From Wesley Kirton
Easysky Airways of Honduras says it is committed to a reliable and sustained relationship with Guyana so as to offer a vital air link to Cuba and countries in Central America. The airline, which recently introduced four flights weekly between Guyana and Cuba via Honduras, gave the assurance that “we are here to serve the Guyana market for the long term and to offer a connection that would contribute positively to the economies of both Guyana and Cuba,” said its president, Manuel Rodriguez Campo.
Speaking at a reception Tuesday evening in Havana in honor of the Guyana delegation currently participating in the Havana International Trade Fair (FIHAV 2016), Rodriguez Campo disclosed that his airline is currently taking over 300 Cubans to Guyana each week to conduct business. He indicated Easysky’s interest in obtaining the necessary approvals from the Guyana Government to be able to sell tickets in Guyana for leisure and business travel in addition to transporting cargo which is likely to be generated as the commercial ties between Guyana and Cuba are expanded.
He also thanked the Government of Guyana for permitting the airline to offer its service to Guyana and expressed the hope that the relationship would be further cemented for mutual benefit.
Easysky, whose local partner is Roraima Airways, first introduced service to Guyana just over one month ago and has since expanded its thrice weekly flights to four flights per week. Roraima Airways president and chief executive officer Gerry Gouveia told guests at the reception, which included Guyana’s Minister of Business and Tourism, Dominic Gaskin, that with the introduction of the new service significant revenue “is being pumped into the Guyanese economy since the Cubans were spending between three and five thousand US dollars each during their stay in Guyana.”
Gouveia said that with sustained service the new air link would generate a significant injection of almost one hundred million US dollars annually into the Guyana economy. He said that the airline is planning ahead to be able to provide for the efficient transport of cargo from Guyana once the business links with Cuba and countries in Central America “take off”.
Minister Gaskin in his remarks alluded to the importance of reliable, efficient and sustained air service to the development of emerging economies like Guyana adding that he is encouraged by the efforts of the Guyanese private sector to look for new markets and to diversify where appropriate. He said that the introduction of new air links such as that being offered by Easysky, once reliable and efficient, should serve to help the effort of the private sector to be more competitive and to penetrate new markets internationally.
Earlier Tuesday Minister Gaskin and Guyana’s Ambassador in Cuba Halim Majeed met with the Ambassador of Honduras in Cuba along with a team from EasyJet during which it is understood that the ambassador raised the possibility of sending Honduran students to Guyana to learn English.
