CJIA arrivals sky rocket during July/August

The Caribbean Premier League (CPL), the sporting franchise that has evolved into the Region’s signature sporting bonanza annually – in addition to the growing interest in Guyana’s emerging oil and gas sector have seen the number of visitors to the country skyrocket.
Arrivals at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) for August 2017 set an unprecedented record of 34,796 passengers, surpassing the 2012 figure of 33,367.
Additionally, arrivals for the first eight months rose seven per cent compared to the corresponding period in 2016.
According to management of the CJIA Inc, “The increase can be positively attributed to the Guyana leg of the Caribbean Premier League tournament and a number of entertainment activities held during the month; increased tourist arrivals, additional business travel due to the expansion in the oil and gas and mining (sector)”.
Substantive Minister David Patterson, commenting on the increased arrivals, said: “Overall, 2017 is another strong year for us with business and tourist travelling demand levels steadily increasing due to the sound business policy and enabling environment created by our Government.”
According to Minister Patterson, Government continues to pursue several carriers to assist with the additional influx of visitors.
“High on the list of priorities is a carrier to ply the South American-Georgetown market and both legacy and low-cost carriers for the North American market,” the Minister further stated.
While New York remains the largest key market, there has been an upsurge in other destinations such as Cuba and Panama.
Meanwhile, upon completion of the new Arrivals Terminal building, with the inclusion of several facilities and amenities, the airport’s capacity will be greatly augmented and strengthened, significantly impacting passengers’ experience.
The US$150 million project was scheduled to be completed within 32 months of its commencement in 2013; however, that the deadline was extended to December 1, 2017 since the project would have experienced several delays.
In 2011, Guyana, under the People’s Progressive Party, had secured a US$138 million loan from the China Export-Import (Exim) Bank to fund the expansion and modernisation project, for which the Guyanese Government has injected some US$12 million. The Project commenced on January 16, 2013.
When the coalition Government came into power in May 2015, the project was put on hold, but following discussions between Public Infrastructure Minister Patterson and the contracting company, China Harbour Engineering Corporation (CHEC), it was announced that the project would be continued but at a downgraded scale.
The original designed expansion was the extension of the runway from 7,500 ft to 10,800 ft to accommodate the Boeing 747-400 aircraft along with doubling the aircraft position from four to eight; installing eight passenger boarding bridges. Also 300 cameras were to be installed to boost the CCTV system. However, the modified version is expected to yield two air passenger boarding bridges for arrival and departure; a 450-seating departure area, escalators and elevators in addition to its extending runway catering for larger categories of aircraft.