As the fight against the novel coronavirus continues, the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and the ministerial task force have announced that both the Cheddi Jagan International Airport and the Eugene F Correia International Airport will remain closed for another month.
Caretaker Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson
This was confirmed by caretaker Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson late on Tuesday evening.
“It is closed until May 1, 2020. The original order was up to March 31, but due to the circumstances not only in Guyana but internationally, the GCCA had recommended that it remains closed.”
Guyana has recorded four new cases of coronavirus infection in two days, bringing to 12 the total number of persons infected. Already, two of those persons have died.
Patterson has posited that another reason for the decision to keep the airports closed is because other countries are closing their airspace.
“They said that all the major hubs to Guyana have closed their airspace already; so Panama has closed their airspace; Trinidad has closed their airspace; (from) New York, no flights are coming in to Guyana; and they also advised that it is the most prudent thing to do; so it remains closed,” he explained.
Further, priority will be given to outgoing flights, cargo flights, medevac flights, or technical stops of aircraft that require fuel, and specially authorised flights.
Guyana joins Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, and many other countries in closing its airports to international flights. Domestic flights will continue as per normal. These will be examined by GCAA inspectors.
Last week, American Airlines announced that from March 16, 2020, it would be suspending its flights to several locations across the world, including to Guyana, in a bid to slow down the rapid spread of the virus.
