CABINET Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon has said that Guyana will continue its mission to have Guyanese provided with adequate and affordable air travel in and out of Guyana. Speaking yesterday at his post-Cabinet press conference at the Office of the President on Shiv Chanderpaul Drive in Georgetown, He was referring to the situation in which Delta Airlines recently announced cessation of its operations in Guyana effectively from May this year.

Dr Luncheon said Cabinet was informed by Public Works Minister Robeson Benn about the accuracy of the Delta Airlines’ contentions in seeking to justify its withdrawal from the Guyana market. “The minister asserted that, at all material times, Delta outperformed its competitors in those indicators that matter for an international air carrier.”

Explaining that government has not placed any significant attention on re-establishing a Government-owned international airline, Dr Luncheon said, “The Government has a view about getting involved with economic activities that would force them to compete with players in that same sector. So the likelihood of a national airline being recreated is something that the Cabinet has not put on the front burner.”

The government instead prefers to use its energies to persuade the international carriers about those features of the Guyana market that would attract them to provide services from Guyana to destinations abroad, he declared.

Earlier this month, President Donald Ramotar dismissed media reports that Delta Airlines was forced out of Guyana because former President Bharrat Jagdeo had been subjected to baggage checks by the airline, a Government Information Agency (GINA) release said.

During a press conference at the Miami Hilton, the President said that at no time did the Guyana Government move to have Delta out of the country, but would in fact like the airline to continue operating the Georgetown/New York route.
“Guyana is asking them to stay… We would very much like them to stay, because it’s a reputable airline. So it has nothing to do with us asking them to leave….
That is not true, I could assure you that that has no basis,” the President told Miami-based Caribbean reporters.

According to GINA, the President also dismissed claims that Delta was pulling out of Guyana because of poor passenger response. “The reason why Delta is pulling out cannot be because of the shortage of people travelling, because Delta had… From the time they started, they have been first in the 70s (percentage); and over the last few years, they have been in the 80 percent of being filled, so it’s a very good route,” he said.

As to why the airline may be cancelling its Georgetown/New York route, the Guyanese leader said there have been some talks about pricing with Caribbean Airlines. However, those too are just rumours “floating around,” he said.