More regional, international direct travel routes to Guyana soon – Foreign Ministry

With Inter-Caribbean Airways announcing a new direct Guyana to Barbados flight, the Government has made it clear that it will continue to incentivise and support increased interconnectivity when it comes to flights between Guyana, the rest of the region and the world.
On Saturday, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said that the Government is hard at work facilitating increased flight routes that will directly connect Guyana to various destinations.
According to the Ministry, Guyana was among the early signatories to the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Multilateral Air Services Agreement (MASA), which is being provisionally applied while relevant legislation is finalised for tabling.
“Similarly, Guyana has initiated efforts, in collaboration with Caricom partners towards developing a regime for incentivising Private Sector partnership in the establishment of an enhanced and viable regional maritime transport network. The Government considers that enhanced connectivity will boost opportunities for trade, tourism, people to people and business to business exchange.”
“With this in mind, the Government, guided by principles of transparency and fair competition, is implementing measures to ensure an open and fair regime in the air transport sector for local, regional, and international operators that will expand opportunities and enhance value for the Guyanese people and persons travelling to Guyana,” the Ministry said.
The Ministry also noted that Guyana welcomes both new and longstanding partners in the aviation sector and looks forward to working with all operators to ensure continuously improved services and viable and sustainable operations.
In this regard, the Ministry also said that the Government of Guyana remains ever mindful of the invaluable service that LIAT has provided to the region, including Guyana, over the years. LIAT, which was previously in the process of being liquidated due to outstanding debts, only restarted flights to limited destinations late last year.

The airline had applied to Guyana earlier this year, seeking permissions to resume local flights. However, permission has not yet been granted since LIAT on its part has outstanding paperwork to submit to the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). The company also still owes substantial amounts of money to the GCAA.
It was only on Friday that the announcement was made that Inter-Caribbean Airways would be offering 12 weekly round trips between Guyana and Barbados starting from December 17. Speaking during the launch of the route, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill emphasised the importance of the operation being sustainable.
“The sustainability of this project is also very important. We want you to stay in the market. We want you to grow, even if there are competitors,” Edghill had said, also revealing that the Government is in discussions with other airlines in Europe and Asia to service Guyana’s aviation market.
In July 2021, Director General (ag) of the GCAA, Chaitrani Heeralall, had said that seven airlines have signalled their interest in operating here. Those air service providers are FlyAllWays, InterCaribbean Airways, One Caribbean Limited, Jetair Caribbean, Skybus Airlines, Sky High Aviation Services and Guyana Rotorcraft Services Inc.
A number of commercial carriers have already reintroduced flights to and from Guyana since the Government moved to reopen the ports. One such airline is American Airlines, which restarted operations late last year. COPA Airlines started three flights weekly from Panama, and Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) also started flying between CJIA and the Lester B Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Canada.
JetBlue also launched its commercial flight between New York and Guyana in December of 2020. In May, InterCaribbean Airways Limited, based in the Turks and Caicos Islands, and FlyAllways received Cabinet approval to operate locally. FlyAllways, which is Suriname owned, was also granted approval to operate in Guyana. (G3)