Guyana-North America flights – Gerald Gouveia

DYNAMIC Airways is now awaiting approval from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) in order to recommence flights between Guyana and North America, following its June false start, Captain Gerald Gouveia said Tuesday. During a press conference at Duke Lodge, Kingston, Managing Director of Roraima Group of Companies, Captain Gerald Gouveia said that due to the false start Dynamic Airways would have experienced during June and July of this year, “they have regrouped with new management.”
He also said that recently during the revamping of the airline, “myself and wife have been inserted into the planning and management system,” and have been “making their voices heard.”
DOT PERMISSION
Gouveia explained that after gaining permission from the Department of Transportation (DOT) in the United States, “the company has filed all documents to GCAA with the last piece of document filed yesterday (Monday). We are now awaiting their approval which has to be sent to the Minister of Works for the final OK.”
He stated that while there is no startup date as yet, “we are hoping to recommence service to Guyana by the last week in November.” He said further that the company does not want to make the same mistake like before and therefore it is making sure all the necessaries are in place before it reintroduces its services.
NO TICKET SALES AS YET
He explained that Dynamic Airways is not doing any marketing of ticket sales and have advised agents doing so to cease until approval is granted by the GCAA.
He said he is aware of companies marketing on behalf of the airline, especially TravelSpan. “The Aviation Authority wrote Dynamic on this issue, cautioning them to stop until approval is given, they were very stern,” Gouviea added.
“We have received notification that TravelSpan has been advertising fares and we have asked them to cease,” he said.
Gouviea said further that the collaboration with TravelSpan is one of a ticketing agent like other travel agents. “Dynamic is not replacing Vision, they are a ticketing agent where they have a block seat arrangement in place.”
FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
He said that one of the airline’s Boeing 767 aircraft will be based in Guyana to fly between Guyana and New York and Toronto. Gouveia informed that a major aspect of those flights will be the transportation of fresh fruits and vegetables to Barbados and then to New York and Toronto. He expressed that his company is now in discussion with the New Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) to source vegetables and fruits for export. “There is a huge market for the export and our problem before was transportation,” he said.
Gouveia reminded that of the 50 Guyanese that Dynamic had interviewed to become Flight Attendants, 25 have already been trained and are currently working with the airline. “I believe they spent the last two weeks in India,” he said. He has given his commitment to ensuring that all services will be of a high level of professionalism this time around.
The airline had suspended all flights on July 8 this year, some two weeks after it had commenced operations, explaining that the suspension was due to operational difficulties the airline encountered while trying to secure time slots at the John F Kennedy (JFK) Airport for the month of July.
Afterwards the company ceased all flights and had given a date of return, but the airline failed to honour its August 8 target date to return to direct flights between CJIA and JFK.

(Rebecca Ganesh-Ally)