Guyana and China sign air services agreement

Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill and Ambassador of China to Guyana, Guo Haiyan on Thursday signed an air serviceS agreement, expanding bilateral relations between the two countries.

The agreement addresses matters relating to the grant of rights, airline designation, and authorisation, revocation, suspension of an authorisation, capacity and frequency provisions, recognition of certificates and licenses, aviation safety, and tariffs, among others.

Ambassador Haiyan noted the agreement has been in the pipeline since 2019, and is testimony to the secure and cordial relationship between Guyana and China. Given the dateline the project had the involvement of A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) government.

At the December 2018 International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Air Services Negotiation (ICAN) event, attended by the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), the local delegation entered into negotiations with countries to put in place framework for expansion in air connectivity of Guyana with the rest of the world, and aid Guyana’s efforts in becoming a robust international air traffic hub.

These meetings, according to a release by then Ministry of Public Infrastructure, “resulted in the conclusion of sixteen Air Services Agreements (ASA’s) with Luxembourg, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso, United Kingdom, Mozambique, Sri Lanka, Cameroon, Oman, Malaysia, Jordan, Zimbabwe, Colombia, Morocco, Gambia, Rwanda, and Tanzania.’

Ambassador Haiyan on Thursday noted the “signing of the agreement represents an important step to implement the consensus of President Ali and President Xi Jinping on deepening bilateral cooperation, and to lay a legal foundation for the deepening of their civil aviation cooperation and will strongly support economic and trade cooperation as well as facilitate people to people exchanges between China and Guyana.”

There is no direct flight between the two countries, Making reference to this at the signing of the agreement the minister said the legal framework has now been put in place to address this challenge.