First repatriation flight from Canada scheduled for July 9; 195 more return from U.S

A WestJet Airlines chartered flight will finally be bringing home about 150 Guyanese next week from Canada, according to Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Egbert Field.

“Proposed repatriation flight from Canada should be coming in next week on the 9th of July,” Field told the News Room during a telephone interview Thursday.

The nationals have been stuck in Canada for several months due to COVID-19 measures and have been pleading with authorities to bring them home.

Meanwhile, an Eastern Airlines flight landed at about 14:30h Thursday at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) with 195 more Guyanese from New York.

The first set of stranded Guyanese arrived from Miami on June 6; since then over 800 Guyanese returned from the United States and the Caribbean.

All arriving passengers must submit a repatriation form to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs along with negative COVID-19 tests no less than 48 hours before they travel; they are also responsible for their own airfare and other expenses.

Recently, there were reports from the Ministry’s Health officials that Guyanese on a previous repatriation flight had given inaccurate information while others had breached their mandatory 14 day quarantine period.

Guyana’s increasing cases of COVID-19 has forced the authorities to postpone the phased re-opening of the CJIA and the Eugene F. Correia International Airport to scheduled commercial flights.

The airports have been closed to international flights since March 17. The phased opening has now been pushed to August.