– over 5,300 repatriated to date
The Government, through the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and Airport Authority, are working aggressively with regional and international air carriers to commence commercial flight operations to Guyana in the shortest possible time.
Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill said in a statement on Friday that engagement with several carriers is on ongoing. Guyana is still in Phase One of its planned airport reopening which caters for repatriation flights, outgoing flights, cargo flights, medical evacuation flights, technical stops for fuel and special authorised flights.
Already, over 5,300 passengers on 63 flights have been processed, arriving from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and the Caribbean during the last four months. Over the next 30 days, the Government anticipates another 2,000 passengers arriving into the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) and 350 at the Eugene Correia International Airport.
“Several air operators such as Eastern Airlines, Caribbean Airlines, Trans Guyana Airways, Roraima Airways and Exxon Mobil flights are permitted to operate special authorised and repatriation flights to process passengers desirous of coming to Guyana, once they satisfy the necessary health, safety and aviation regulatory requirements,” Minister Edghill stated.
Phase Two for the reopening of limited flights to Guyana, will cater to citizens, permanent residents, international workers and diplomats and was last pushed, tentatively, to October 1, 2020. The Minister, however, did not assure that stakeholders were working towards this date.
While the current measures in place at the airports are robust, the Ministry of Health and the relevant stakeholders are working to improve the timely and efficient processing and monitoring of passengers arriving into the country.
Some of the initiatives that will be introduced are ‘mist towers’ to reduce the exposure to COVID-19; PCR Testing on arrival at the airport; Mobile Application to facilitate easy passenger engagement while in self-quarantine and a website for easy passenger interface.
“The Government of Guyana is committed to working with all stakeholders and private sector bodies to reopen the economy to improve the livelihood, inclusive of employment opportunities for our citizens. The health and well-being of our people is paramount and your government will continuously evaluate the measures in place during this pandemic,” Minister Edghill said, adding:
“I implore the general public to strictly adhere to the health guidelines that are in place to protect against the spread of COVID-19.”
