Govt backflips, now grants US Embassy’s request for 7th relief flight

Days after denying a request by the United States Embassy in Georgetown for another relief flight to repatriate its citizens, the caretaker APNU/AFC Government has now granted permission for the operation of that flight.
In a notice to US citizens who are stranded in Guyana amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the Embassy revealed that the flight would be on Friday, as initially planned.
“Permission was granted for the seventh relief commercial flight operated by Eastern Airlines with direct service from Georgetown to Miami, Friday May 22, 2020 departing at 16:30,” the Mission said in its notice.
It was noted that this flight is open only to US citizens, legal permanent residents, and third country nationals with a valid visa or ESTA for transit.
British High Commissioner to Guyana, Greg Quinn, has also urged persons wanting to return to the United Kingdom (UK) to capitalise on the flight if they are holders of US visas or Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTAs).
The National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) last month extended the closure of the country’s international air1ports for the second time until June 3, when the nationwide curfew will be up for review, and will either be further extended or lifted.
Since the initial closure of Guyana’s borders, including its airspace, to incoming commercial flights on March 18, the US Embassy has been successful in seeking special permission from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to have six relief flights to date, to take home their citizens and their families.
In fact, the Mission has assisted over 1000 US citizens as well as others, including Canadians and British citizens, to fly to the US. However, on Sunday it was revealed that a recent request for a seventh commercial relief flight this Friday from Georgetown to Miami was rejected.
This was indicated to US citizens who were stranded in Guyana and were on a waiting list for the next flight. The correspondence had stated “… we regret to inform you that [the relief flight] was NOT APPROVED. U.S. citizens and LPR’s will need to continue to shelter in place until June 3rd, when Guyana’s airspace is expected to re-open to international air traffic.”
The last relief flight to the US was on May 4, when it was anticipated that representatives from the Carter Center and the International Republican Institute (IRI) would have been allowed to return to Guyana to observe the ongoing National Recount.
However, that permission was denied, and the flight came to Guyana empty.
Last week, it was revealed by US Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch, that her office as well as the Carter Center from the US have made a second request to the Guyana Government for the organisation’s Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) as well as IRI advisors to return to Georgetown to monitor the ongoing recount exercise of the ballots cast at the March 2 elections.
But despite the observers committing to the necessary COVID-19 protocols in place, caretaker Foreign Affairs Minister Karen Cummings, in a letter dated Friday May 15, 2020, informed the US Ambassador that “…it may not be possible for the Carter Center and the IRI Advisor to participate in the overseeing of the recount of the votes cast on 2nd March 2020 General and Regional Elections, which as you are aware has already commenced.”
Cummings cited the series of emergency measures, including the imposition of a curfew and the closure of Guyana’s international airports, for the denial of the request, and asked that her Government’s decision be respected.
However, even as the Granger-led administration insisted that the country’s international airports would remain closed to incoming traffic to protect Guyanese, the caretaker administration has been approving several flights for oil giant ExxonMobil to fly in its workers from countries around the world.