Major investment to expand aviation education in Guyana – Pres Ali

President Dr Irfaan Ali has outlined plans for heavy investments in expanding aviation education in Guyana as part of an ecosystem to position the country as a regional leader in the industry.

According to the Head of State, the Guyana Government has been making major investments in infrastructure works, airport expansion, digitization of immigration services and hotel accommodation in order to build an ecosystem to position the local aviation sector as a driver of national development.
“When I say a driver of national development, very soon, we’re going to invest here in Guyana, in expanded aviation education in every aspect of the aviation – aviation management, training of pilots [and] aeronautic engineers. Every single sphere of aviation life will be part of the training programme that we want to offer here in Guyana,” President Ali posited on Tuesday evening.
Only earlier this year, Guyana’s decades-old Civil Aviation Training School became accredited by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), marking a significant milestone in enhancing the country’s aviation standards and training capabilities.
Established in 1974 as the Air Traffic Services Training School, the Guyana Civil Aviation Training School (CATS) has been a key part of air traffic services training in Guyana, including training air traffic controllers and assistants.
The school, located at Timehri, was late last year accredited by TRAINAIR, a global training programme under ICAO, and is now authorised to train persons in over 500 courses.
Meanwhile, the University of Guyana (UG) had revealed plans last year to collaborate with an international flight school to increase the number of aviation courses available at the institution.
Currently, UG’s Faculty of Engineering and Technology provides a two-year Bachelor of Science (Aviation Management). While the university also offers a Certificate and Associate’s Degree in this field, the local tertiary education institution however lacks the advanced expertise in the field hence the need to partner with international schools.
Moreover, it was also announced back in July 2023 that the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) will establish an aviation school to train military and civilian pilots for the local and Caribbean markets.

Expanding int’l routes
On Tuesday evening, President Ali made remarks about expanding aviation education while speaking at a reception held ahead of the inaugural KLM Royal Dutch Airline flight to Guyana.
KLM, which is the oldest commercial airline in the world, commenced operations in Guyana on Wednesday, June 4. It will operate two flights weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays with the Airbus 330-200.
The Amsterdam-Georgetown route will see direct flights from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) to the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, while the in-bound flights will include a short stopover in Sint Maarten before arriving in Guyana.
KLM is just one of several international and regional carriers that have commenced operations in Guyana in recent years, connecting the country directly to more than 10 new destinations across the world.
According to the Guyanese Head of State, these international airlines would not consider expanding operations here had there not been investments to attract them.
“No one is going to come into our country if it will take you five hours from the airport to the city. And whilst there’s tremendous inconvenience at the moment because of the construction [along the East Bank Demerara corridor to expand the roadway], the infrastructure that we’re putting in place, is to make the central hub of all the connecting services within a 35-minutes radius of each other. That is where we’re positioning the ecosystem.”
“KLM’s arrival is not an isolated development. It is the latest chapter in a deliberate and strategic policy that our government has been pursuing for the past five years; one aimed at expanding the range of airlines and international routes serving our country. It is a policy that sees aviation not as a supporting service, but as a driver of national development,” he posited.

Economic prospects
Based on a recent report, Guyana’s aviation sector contributed approximately US$160 million to the national gross domestic product along with creating some 5,200 jobs.

The number of passengers passing through Guyana has increased from 182,000 to over 857,000 in just four years, with seating capacity expanding from 336,000 to nearly 1.5 million. Guyana is now served by 11 carriers, connecting directly to 16 international destinations.
With plans to add 13,000 airline seats annually to the local market, President Ali stressed the need to optimally utilise these new destinations, especially into Europe via Amsterdam with KLM, to market not just Guyana’s tourism product but local produce as well.
“This is not just about an airline and a flight and a connection; this is the connection to one of the most prestigious hubs in the world. And that opens up significant opportunities, not only for passengers moving between countries and destination, but it opens up tremendous opportunities for our economy itself, and where we are positioning the economy in relation to our agro-processing potential, our cargo potential, and our ability to now move product and produce in a more efficient way throughout the region…”
“Today is an important day for the integration of our economy. It’s an important day for trade between our region. It’s an important day for farmers who can now have high value fruits and other processed goods ready for your market. It’s an important day for Guyana, because now we are connected to one of the most prestigious hubs,” the Head of State asserted.
To this end, President Ali noted that KLM is not just an investor but a partner to Guyana and his government is ready to provide the necessary incentives to work with the airline in making Georgetown a central hub in this region.