Govt caused cancellation of flights for stranded Guyanese – CAL

…failed to provide passenger list despite agreement with airline to do so

Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) has cleared the air on the cancellation of flights that would have repatriated stranded Guyanese back to their homeland on June 11.

According to the airline, the blame for the cancellation can be laid squarely at the feet of the coalition Government and its aviation authority.
In a statement on Sunday, CAL revealed that it had been in communication with the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) and the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), regarding the repatriation of Guyanese stranded overseas owing to the closure of Guyana’s airspace.
According to CAL, it received approval from the Government to operate in Guyana’s airspace on June 11 and was moreover told that it would receive a listing of all the Guyanese nationals with permission to return. But while the airline was ready to move forward with the flights, the Government was not.

“Caribbean Airlines supplied the Government of Guyana and the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority with a proposed schedule of repatriation flights and received approval to operate a service between Trinidad, Barbados and Guyana on June 11; with the Guyana authorities committing to provide a listing of pre-approved Guyanese nationals to the airline,” CAL said.

“Subsequently, on June 9, the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority advised that the necessary processes

were not yet completed by the Guyana authorities and they were unable to provide the listing of nationals for repatriation to Caribbean Airlines, which would facilitate the advertising of the flight and booking of passengers.”
Notwithstanding the setback, CAL reiterated its desire to repatriate citizens of Guyana and the wider Caribbean. In fact, the airline noted that it was currently arranging flights for citizens in other Caribbean countries.
“Caribbean Airlines remains committed to supporting repatriation efforts for the citizens of Guyana and looks forward to the completion of the processes and the provision of the necessary approvals from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority,” CAL said.

“Caribbean Airlines is currently facilitating repatriation flights for nationals of Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, Antigua and Bahamas through June 16 and will support further repatriation efforts of Caribbean nationals throughout the Region.”
Guyana Times had reported on Saturday that two Caribbean Airlines flights which were supposed to repatriate Guyanese stranded overseas have since been cancelled and persons who were supposed to return home were left unsure of their next steps.
There was a Caribbean Airlines flight planned for June 11 for stranded Guyanese in Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados; and another flight from the USA, originating from the John F Kennedy International Airport in New York on June 13. However, both flights were cancelled. Efforts by the media to ascertain why were futile.
John Ramsingh, one of the Guyanese who had returned home on the first repatriation flight from the United States, had revealed via a press release that the stranded passengers were not given any explanation for the cancellation of the flights.
On behalf of the stranded Guyanese, Ramsingh had called on the Guyana authorities to honour their commitment to allow them to return home.
“Our fellow Guyanese are desperate to return home with some barely surviving. They have met the criteria to return even under difficult circumstances but are still left in the wilderness. Our decision makers need to allow our brothers and sisters to come back home,” Ramsingh had expressed.
The first batch of stranded Guyanese were repatriated on June 6 on a flight from Miami, USA. The Eastern Airlines flight landed at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) in Georgetown at approximately 16:30h with 109 citizens who were all sanitised and screened upon entering the airport.
Once cleared, the passengers were then placed under home quarantine for seven days with representatives of the Public Health Ministry checking on their well-being on a daily basis through visits or telephone calls.
After the incident-free repatriation, senior Government officials, including the caretaker Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence and GCAA Director General Egbert Field pledged weekly flights to have stranded citizens reunited with their families in Guyana.