Local aviation sector can afford to slash airfares by 15% – Pres Ali

President Dr Irfaan Ali has asserted that Guyana’s local aviation sector is financially capable of lowering domestic air transport fares by as much as 15 per cent. He made the remarks at the sod-turning ceremony for the new BK air terminal in Bartica, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) on Sunday, where he specifically challenged Jags Aviation to lead the way in making domestic air travel more affordable for citizens. “Our aviation sector has been modernising at a rapid pace, changing out assets, investing in new assets. But whilst I compliment our aviation sector, I challenge them to bring a more balanced pricing mechanism for the consumers,” President Ali posited.
“We have given the aviation sector enormous incentives. We have given them enormous support in the removal of taxes on fuel. It is time the aviation sector return that support to the citizens and people of our country. There is no way the aviation sector cannot, at this time, at least reduce air transport by 15 per cent. I’ve looked at the numbers,” he added. In this regard, the President challenged Jags Aviation, led by Brian Tiwari of the BK Group of Companies, to take the lead in reducing airfares. “I challenge Jags Aviation to once again be a trailblazer in reducing this cost that is not outside of your reach,” he said.
In May, Vice President (VP) Dr Bharrat Jagdeo had announced that the Government is contemplating investing in a commercial arm of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) in order to compete with domestic airlines that continue to exploit consumers. “We’ve had some discussions with them [domestic airline operators] and if they can’t be reasonable about these rates, then the Government will invest in a commercial arm of the GDF to compete with them so that we can keep the freight rates down. In fact, we may very well buy four more of the aircraft that we’ve just bought to do that in the next term in office,” Dr Jagdeo had told the National Toshaos Council (NTC) Conference.
The VP had also noted that sometimes, there are middlemen who would charter flights from airlines and charge even higher prices – another issue that needs to be addressed.