A MEETING yesterday between the government and officials of Caribbean Airlines ended with an agreement to have the latter provide short-term accommodation for stranded New York-bound EZjet passengers at the same fare structure.

The meet, which was held at the President’s official State House residence, saw the Trinidad and Tobago carrier also promising to put on additional flights within the coming week to bolster its efforts at accommodation, and, as a medium-term measure, operate a dry-lease aircraft from Georgetown to New York onto Toronto.
Asked by the Government Information Agency (GINA) to comment on the situation, CAL Chairman, Mr Rabindra Moonan said the accrued benefits from the latter plan will be passed on to the travelling public.
In the wake of the suspension of EZjet’s licence, Moonan and other CAL officials, namely Vice-Chairman, Mr Mohan Jaikaran, Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Robert Corbie and Airport Manager, Mr Carl Stuart met Guyana’s President Donald Ramotar, Acting Tourism Minister, Mr  Irfaan Ali, Public Works Minister, Mr  Robeson Benn and other local officials for talks at the request of the Guyana Government.
CAL is at present accumulating the passenger statistics from EZjet and the Ministry of Tourism, but according to Moonan, travellers can rest assure that they will be accommodated.
News of EZjet’s licence suspension over fees owed to the aircraft’s lease company, Swift Air left thousands of passengers who made bookings with the suspended airline in despair, and prompted the government to approach Caribbean Airlines for help.
President Ramotar, from whom GINA also sought a comment, said he was pleased with the positive response the government got from CAL, in that it not only agreed to hold fares on par with EZjet, but also throw on additional flights.
He said the task at hand now on the part of the local authorities is to expedite the process of quantifying the number of persons affected by the grounding of EZjet.
The new arrangement hinges on the provision of technical information for administrative vetting, according to Minister Benn, but given the urgency of the situation, all parties are counting on a quick response.
As passengers wait over the next few days, the Public Works Minister is reiterating the call for patience.
The Ministry of Tourism said it is estimated that between 25,000 – 30,000 passengers would have made reservations to travel with EZJet between November and December 2012.
The Guyana Government, upon learning of the US’s plan to suspend EZjet with immediate effect via its civil aviation authority, suspended EZJet’s licence to operate scheduled air services on the Georgetown-New York, Georgetown-Toronto and Georgetown-Trinidad and Tobago routes, Minister Benn told reporters on Friday.
The Minister said that government understands that the genesis of the US Department of Transportation’s suspension resides with requests made via aircraft provider, Swift Air, with respect to delinquent payments. Swift Air is an American Airline based in Phoenix, Arizona, USA that operates a fleet of business and commercial jets for charter and private use.(GINA)