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This is logical because, if the quality of service at these ports is poor, it will obviously deter visitors and investors which, in turn, will have severe adverse effects on national economies. Our government, to its credit, has long recognised this and therefore has been working persistently to improve Guyana’s main international airport – the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri (CJIA). Today it has been transformed from a once dilapidated structure to a modern one comparable to what obtains in other CARICOM states and further afield.
Nowadays, what identifies an airport in the passenger’s mind is, more often than not, the overall airport experience – customer services can be as important as infrastructure – and the two are often intrinsically interlinked.
That’s why it is more important than ever to know your customers and their perceptions. Knowing this means knowing where you stand in comparison to your benchmark airports, because customers judge service by the service they get elsewhere.
So with our country increasingly emerging as a tourist destination it is imperative that the quality of service at CJIA be constantly improved in accordance with international standards.
In this regard, the recent two-day workshop on improving the quality of service at CJIA is most welcomed.
Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Mr. Robeson Benn told the participants that CJIA is regarded as the ‘welcome door’ to Guyana and it must be the best regional airport since the country is noted for its hospitality.
He said such sessions are organised to employ change at CJIA where analysis can be done to effect what is necessary, by identifying the weaknesses and provide the opportunity to offer a better service to all who pass through the airport.
Benn said all issues must be ironed out in which threats, security, development and people must be the focus and, eventually, flights worldwide would be launched at CJIA, linking Guyanese to several places across the globe.
He insisted that change must be effected for development of Guyanese in which improvements would be recognised and the next generation would benefit, significantly, by way of the reduction in the cost of travel in which direct flights will be available connecting Guyana to the diaspora.
Mr. Benn was dead on target in his presentation because, undoubtedly, the quality of service at international airports has a direct and indirect bearing on tourism and investment and by extension economic development.
CJIA’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ramesh Ghir, also made a most pertinent exhortation: “Treat the airport like your home, welcome people with a smile and be courteous,” he urged, noting that people that visit Guyana either to do business, invest, or to holiday and they must be treated right.
If there is a particular company or person who is tarnishing the image of CJIA, they must be put out, he said.
But the government is not only focusing on quality of service but in a visionary manner it is also working towards improving infrastructure.
And in this regard it has approved a US$138M design and construction contract with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) for a project that is expected to include an extension of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) runway to a total of 10,800 feet for accommodating large, transatlantic aircraft such as the Boeing 747.
That contract also includes erection of a new terminal building; acquisition of eight boarding bridges; and installation of other state-of-the-art equipment, such as elevators, escalators and x-ray scanners, using three-dimensional technology along with flight information and security monitoring systems.
Unfortunately, some who clearly are not interested in this country’s economic advancement are vehemently opposed to the project and expectedly are attempting to throw in all sorts of “red herrings.”
However, their puerile attempts at derailing progress because the overwhelming majority of Guyanese are fully aware of the cynical plots of those who do not have their interests of this country at heart.
