CJIA raked in over $1B in 2013
Passengers arriving at CJIA on a Fly Jamaica flight
Passengers arriving at CJIA on a Fly Jamaica flight

– but saw a reduction in arrivals

THE country’s main port of entry, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) generated over $1B in revenue in 2013, but saw a reduction by 12 percent in visitor arrivals, as a result of Delta Airlines pulling out of Guyana in May.The airport’s total expenditure for 2013 amounted to $588M as compared to the $493M spent for the same period in 2012. This increase in expenditures was mainly due to additional staffing.
The total passenger movements for 2013 amounted to 479,177compared to 543,374 in 2012, while the  airport recorded 3,811 international aircraft movements up to December 2013 as compared to 4,640 for the same period in 2012 (an 18% decrease).
Imported cargo amounted to 2,287 tonnes; a 5% increase over the previous year, while exports amounted to 2,462 tonnes or a 36% increase over that of 2012.
Safety

In November, CJIA hosted its simulated aircraft crash, which was conducted to test the preparedness of the airport to respond to an actual emergency. While there were challenges, a team of critics drawn from the GCAA, Guyana Defence Force, Guyana Police Force, Civil Defence Commission, Ministry of Health and airline operators, deemed the activity a success. About 300 persons participated including five medical institutions and over 70 police officers.

Security
In January 2013, the Corporation was audited by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) of the United States. The team found that the security systems and regulations at the airport were in full compliance with ICAO Annex 17 and TSA Security Regulations.
The GCCA conducted an audit inspection of CJIA facilities during the period June 25 to 27, 2013, as part of the annual re-certification process of CJIA’s Aerodrome.
A new non-intrusive body scanner was purchased for the departure area at a cost of $40M. This modern TSA approved Full Body Scanner uses safe active millimeter wave (MMW) radio frequency technology and can scan 200 – 300 persons per hour. Passengers’ privacy is guaranteed since potential threat areas are presented to the operator using a generic mannequin that resembles a human outline.
A new security office and hut costing a total of $3M were constructed during the period.
For the year 2013, 160 persons, including new CJIA employees and staff of other agencies operating in the airport, were trained under this programme.
Thirty Aviation Security Officers were recruited, bringing the total number to 60. The increased staffing allows greater effectiveness and flexibility in the control of access points and monitoring of activities.
In response to various security threats, several mitigating measures were also implemented. Additional monitoring of ground equipment and areas such as Baggage Make Up, Apron and Customs Shed were introduced.

Drug Incidents
Several discoveries were made during 2013 between CJIA and the Joint Law enforcement agencies. Again, the drug traffickers found very innovative ways of concealing the illegal substances for movement through the airport. Cocaine amounting to 51.64kg was discovered at CJIA, while 14.86kg was discovered at JFK, totalling 66.50kg

Airlines
Caribbean Airlines on February 10, 2013, launched direct flights between the John F Kennedy Airport, New York and CJIA. This supplemented the already existing direct flights between Guyana and Toronto. These direct flights are being operated using the Boeing 767-300 aircraft.
Suriname Airways continued to provide twice weekly roundtrip service on the Paramaribo-Georgetown-Miami route with its 126 seat B737-300 aircraft, while LIAT occasionally provided service on the Barbados- Georgetown route using the ATR 72 aircraft.
Fly Jamaica commenced operations in August 2013 flying the Georgetown to Jamaica to New York route. The aircraft has a total seating capacity of 198.
Travelspan began flights out of the CJIA on December 14, while on November 23, the Venezuelan Government launched its inaugural flight of their National Carrier, CONVIASA Aero, to Guyana. The Airline commenced operations on January 25, 2014.

Airport Expansion Project
The CJIA expansion project is expected to meet its deadline of August 2015, as works are scheduled to begin on several aspects of the building during the course of this year.
Work commenced on the final design and is expected to be completed by March 2014.
Excavation and backfilling works began on a test section of 160m x 160m of the runway for the expansion project. The test section is to ensure that the correct design techniques are adopted for the entire runway extension. The work is 65% completed.

(GINA)

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