In the early days of the aviation industry, the perception of air transport was that it was reserved for the affluent, but today that perception has been proven wrong because air transport has now become an integral and an imperative part of the national and global economy, particularly in view of the fact that the world is now increasingly becoming a global village.
According to Air Transport Action Group (ATAG): “Air transport makes a valuable and unique contribution to our society – and the efficient and affordable access it provides to markets helps improve living standards and foster economic growth. This, in turn, alleviates poverty and results in reduced environmental degradation.
“Air transport is one of the world’s fastest growing industries, evidenced by the demand for air travel that increased three-fold between 1980 and 2000, and that is set to double by 2020.
“This illustrates how essential the industry is to modern life; few people could imagine or would want a world without air travel – since the benefits of being linked to all regions worldwide via a network of air routes are increasingly significant in terms of access, time savings, economic benefits and safety.”
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh puts it succinctly when he noted that at one time, the aviation sector was looked upon as being relevant only for the affluent sections of our population. But in recent years the thinking has changed and it is well recognised that this sector is vital for the development of our trade, industry and tourism, which in turn creates employment opportunities for all sections of our people. With the growth of low-cost air travel, the airlines are now giving strong competition to the railways and many passengers who earlier used to travel only by trains today frequently use air flights.
“The government fully understands the importance of the civil aviation sector to the Indian economy, particularly as it gets more and more integrated into the global economy. India has formulated various policies to give a boost to this important sector of our economy.
“Our policy on airport infrastructure aims to increase airport capacity to stay ahead of demand and to garner the maximum share of traffic in the region. Airport facilities [are] user friendly and achieve high levels of customer satisfaction,” the Prime Minister declared.
The Government of Guyana, recognising the crucial role of the aviation sector to our economic advancement, has been working persistently to improve aviation infrastructure and air transport and so far has made some impressive strides in this regard.
The transformation of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) into a modern aviation facility of international standards is a major achievement for the sector, and it is now earmarked for further expansion and modernisation, which unfortunately is being questioned and opposed by some of the naïve and myopic people of our country, who ironically are claiming they are putting the interests of the country first.
Another major achievement has been the upgrading of the Ogle Aerodrome into a municipal airport, which is a fine example of government/private sector partnership.
However, one of our problematic issues has been the establishment of a national flag carrier and having direct flights to and from North America, particularly with respect to Canada.
In relation to the latter, it has had a significant impact of the number of visitors from Canada, especially the Guyanese diaspora who have been complaining bitterly at the treatment they receive at the hands of the authorities in Barbados and moreso Trinidad and Tobago when they are in transit to their homeland.
The government has been working steadily to remedy the situation with some degree of success, but because of the difficulties facing the international aviation sector due to the global financial crisis, it has been a challenge to find a solution.
Nevertheless, the recent launch of EZjet’s inaugural direct flight for the Guyana/Toronto route is certainly a boost to our aviation sector and this should now encourage many more from the Guyanese diaspora in Canada to visit their homeland. This ultimately would impact positively on our budding tourism sector and our economy.