Aruba Airlines on Sunday made its inaugural flight to Guyana, with some 150 passengers on board, marking the beginning of its service in the Guyanese market. Roraima Group of Companies is handling the airline from this end and was very instrumental in the application process.
The Aruba Airlines aircraft that made the inaugural flight to GuyanaThe Aruba Airlines aircraft during touchdown at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (Gerry Gouveia photos)
According to Roraima CEO, Captain Gerry Gouveia, the airline would be operating here, flying three times weekly, but he noted that they are still in the probation phase. He added that they would officially launch the service in a few days.
Aruba Airlines was founded in 2006 and currently has in its fleet an Airbus 319, two 320 and, on order, two Embraer ERJ 145. The Airbus 320 has the range to ply the Aruba/New York route. JetBlue uses the same type of aircraft to ply the Aruba/JFK route.
Aruba Airlines’ network includes Venezuela, several cities in Cuba and Miami. There is good traffic between Guyana and Cuba and, with links to four cities in Cuba; it will haul in more traffic between Guyana and Cuba. In addition, that will only increase because more Cubans will visit Guyana and Suriname to shop.
The airline hopes to use its Aruba hub, which houses a US Homeland and Border Control immigration office there, to link passengers to its network.
