– Aruba Airlines set to fly from July
Several airlines have applied to the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to operate locally.
GCAA Director General, Retired Colonel Egbert Field said the Authority was currently in discussions with officials from those airlines and was working on their applications.
The Director General, in an interview with the Department of Public Information (DPI)/Government Information Agency (GINA), noted that two airlines from the United States and three from the Caribbean Region were the latest to indicate their interest in operating airline routes within the Region between Havana and Guyana or Aruba and Guyana.
The Director General underlined that “Cubans are spending close to US$500,000 a week in Guyana’s economy and that is a sizeable amount. Imagine the increase when you have additional airlines flying the same route bringing passengers out of Havana…I cannot forecast that the travelling cost will decrease, but increased competition brings the prices down and this is one of the things we’re working on.”Field further said Aruba Airlines was expected to begin formal flights early in July. He explained that the Authority and the airline’s officials were currently finalising the application.
“The airline out of Aruba would like to fly to Guyana and also fly through from Havana. To date, we have Easy Sky flying from Havana to Georgetown. Aruba also wants to fly on that route, so it would benefit the economy of Guyana greatly and those Guyanese who wish to travel to Aruba and Curaçao to make connection with the world,” Field explained.
Aruba Airlines was founded in 2006; its network of destinations includes Venezuela, several cities in Cuba and Miami. There is good traffic between Guyana and Cuba, and Aruba Airlines will haul in more traffic between the two countries. This increase in travel will lead to an increase in foreign currency, especially from the Cubans who travel to Guyana on a regular basis, Field stated.
