Minister within the Ministry of Public Works Deodat Indar on Friday revealed that several new airlines offering direct serve to Guyana are expected to be in operation soon.
Indar, who was speaking at a business luncheon at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown said: “We are working with some other airlines – I don’t want to say the names it is too early – to deal with some direct routes to Guyana, we have a number of them we are working with.”
He however, said that within the next month some of the airlines will start operations.
These airlines will have direct flights from Guyana to the Caribbean and North America.
“It would help us with travel and help us with trade too,” Indar said.
With the expansion of the runway at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) in September, Guyana now has one of the longest runways in the region. The expansion has increased the efficiency and capacity of the airport which allows for landing and take-off of large aircrafts.
The runway was also built in compliance with hundreds of international civil aviation standards.
An Instrument Landing System (ILS) was also installed and is expected to reduce flights diversion by 90 per cent.
Some of the airlines operating in Guyana include American Airlines, JetBlue, Copa Airlines and Caribbean Airlines.
The local Civil Aviation Authority is also certified by the International Civil Aviation Organisation and Indar said the government will ensure this standard is maintained.
“The airline industry is one of the most regulated industry and we have attained that standard and we intend to keep it to make sure when international carriers come in there is a regime here that is internationally recognised.”
