National air carrier would greatly benefit local aviation industry – GCAA Head

With heavy investments being made to boost the local aviation sector, Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Egbert Field has indicated that a national airline would be a tremendous boost.
According to Field, the GCAA with the support of the administration will welcome such ventures and walk the investors through the process and ensure that their operations align with the sector’s regulations, protocols and best practices.
During a brief interview with this publication on Monday, the GCAA Head explained that having a national carrier coincides with Government’s plans to make Guyana a new travel hub.
“It would be a tremendous boost to the economy, in terms of not only advancing and increasing the aviation industry, but the traffic, the uplift in and out of Guyana will be increased. Don’t forget to bring in tourists, bring in businessmen in the job area. You’ll have local pilots, local engineers, local flight attendants, and all this will be added towards the development of the economy in Guyana… Before all of this, the entire intent of the operation will have to be approved by our administration, because eventually the administration determines how many aircraft operators we will have in Guyana and who can operate in Guyana,” Field said.

Over the last three years, Guyana has fostered many joint ventures with regional and international airlines to develop new routes for direct and indirect flights to and from Guyana, however, the number of locally owned carriers are relatively low.
Earlier in the year, Aviation Advisor to the government and former Member of Parliament, Lenox Shuman resigned from his post with the intention of establishing a “100 percent Guyanese-owned” airline.
Field explained that while a formal application has not been submitted yet, the GCAA did engage Shuman about the venture.
Nevertheless, he highlighted the Authority is anticipating more proposals of that nature.
“The Civil Aviation Authority is here as the regulator, and at the same time to see the airline industry grow. We’re here to promote the growth of the aviation industry. So, should a local airline or any airline make representation in terms of a formal application to operate into Guyana or out of Guyana, we will certainly welcome that application. So, an airline locally owned will certainly be a boost in terms of increasing the aviation industry and also the development of Guyana as a whole,” he reassured.
Meanwhile, when contacted for an update on his plans to establish El Dorado Airlines, Shuman indicated that a board meeting will be held shortly, after which he can speak with the media.
For the period January to May, Guyana has seen an increase in the number of persons entering the country.
According a report from the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Ministry, visitor arrivals increased significantly by 12.8 per cent compared to the same period in 2023 with a total of 141,078 visitors entering the country during this period.
Moreover, this year’s May month arrivals increased by 14.6 per cent in 2024 when compared to May 2023, with 28,327 visitors.
It was noted that the increase of visitors during this period is a result of multiple initiatives implemented by the Ministry who worked assiduously on several extensive, collaborative projects, programmes and initiatives to achieve significant strides in promoting and developing Guyana’s tourism product. (G1)