THE Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) has undoubtedly, over the years, been transformed into a truly modern facility through significant investments.
It is today a far cry from what it was when the current government took office and the upgrading continues.
The airport is no longer shabby with stinking non-functioning toilets, leaking roof, a dilapidated baggage handling system, poor lighting and non-existent catering and hospitality services.
Using the airport in that period was for many a dreadful experience.
It is no longer so and Guyanese can take pride in the transformation of the country’s only international airport.
Arrivals and departures are now far more efficient and a wide array of services is available.
This is at it should be because visitors invariably form impressions of a country largely on how they are treated at airports.
The upgrading could not have been easy given the limited resources available in a developing country like Guyana and the recent news from Chief Executive Officer of the airport, Mr. Ramesh Ghir, was heartening.
He said the airport collected a record $635M in revenue last year and this had to be the result of astute and sound management.
According to Mr. Ghir, expenditure by CJIA, which has 900 employees, was $340M last year against $369M in 2009.
He said passenger arrivals were 226,867, five per cent more than 2009 and there was an increase of nine per cent in cargo movement, through import and export.
Aircraft landing fees also rose by five per cent and, during last year, CJIA introduced its own security, employing 21 persons for the purpose and instituted new checking arrangements aimed at improving the efficiency and integrity of the operations, he said.
Mr. Ghir reported that capital works, including rehabilitation of the taxi way and the international apron, cost $300M, covering rehabilitation of the washroom facilities at the drop-off area, construction of a fully computerised car park booth, new lighting fixtures to protect from lightning, 20 new check-in systems, passenger self-checking kiosks as well as two new flight information display systems.
As a result of new concessions, a number of snackettes and shops for outgoing passengers were also opened, he reported.
Head of the Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Mr. Zulfikar Mohamed, said his agency expended $910M on a modernisation project, $80M of which was from revenue collected.
He said the agency continued its efforts to achieve the strategic objectives in keeping with the business plan developed by the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority in 2002.
Mr. Mohamed reported that legislation is being reviewed as part of the efforts to comply with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards and secure the necessary (category) status under the United States Federal Aviation Administration International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) programme, to enable Guyanese air carriers to fly into the United States.
These developments at CJIA are positive and encouraging because the airport is crucial to Guyana’s continued development, particularly in light of the fact that tourism is assuming an increasing role in the national economy and continues to show impressive growth.
Those who are in charge of the management and day to day running of the CJIA should be applauded for the achievements.