Guyana Airways Corporation protests at ICAO conference

Associates and employees of the newly-established carrier Guyana Airways, whose registration to operate was revoked, picketed the Arthur Chung Conference Centre ahead of the Air Transport Conference organised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) on Wednesday.

Guyana Airways flight attendant Shellyann Lalchand told media operatives that the company was registered in 2016 after it was found that the name was legal. With no objections within the stipulated time period, the company went ahead with the registration.
“Guyana Airways Corporation was legally registered as company in 2016. We did all the research when we did the registration and the name Guyana Airways was available at that time. The registrar did their research and it was available. However, all authorities had six months within that time to object and no one did, so we went ahead with our registration and the progress of our company,” said Lalchand.
After complaints were raised that a previous company operated under that name, the licence was revoked.
“However, in July 2018, the Government and the registrar unregistered our company without prior notice, which is totally illogical to me because it’s two years. We feel that we’re in our legal rights.”
Lalchand is contending that the name was legal since no company is presently operating under the said title.
“The Government presently have us in court. When Guyana Airways did the research, the old Guyana Airways was default which means it was not in operation anymore, so Guyana Airways was available … They’re claiming that this name was not available.”
The company was planning to commence operations in Guyana last October, providing daily flights to a number of Caribbean destinations.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Colin Abrams stated during an interview with this publication that they were awaiting confirmation from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) as it relates to the acquisition of its licence, which would give the final confirmation on its operation plans.
“We’d hopefully like to commence operations during October after cruiser training in Miami and we’re shooting for October. That is part of the AOC [Air Operator’s Certificate] licensing process. We have to fly trips and they observe that our trips are flown within the realms of our operating procedures that we wrote in our manuals,” he said.
The aircraft to be used are not owned by the company, but would be dry-leased. Additionally, some 80 flight attendants were hired to provide the designated services.