SURINAM Airways plans to offer a cargo service out of Guyana beginning January 2017, as its General Manager, Henk Fitz-Jim pledged the airline’s continued commitment to serving the Guyana market with the highest levels of safety, comfort and overall customer service.Fitz-Jim announced that during the course of 2016, Guyanese had been trained to handle cargo in accordance with U.S. Department of Homeland Security standards and the airline will offer cargo service out of Guyana into the United States. It already offers cargo service into Guyana out of Miami.

“We have also demonstrated our commitment as a good corporate citizen by giving back to the communities that support us. We have been sponsors of several events to mark the 50th anniversary of Guyana’s independence, in addition to supporting the efforts of several Guyanese-American charitable organisations that do good work in areas such as health care, education, trade and investment promotion, sport and cultural preservation,” Fitz-Jim is quoted as saying in a release from Surinam Airways.

The general manager further noted that the airline boasts a 92 per cent on-time departure record from Miami International Airport to Guyana. He also apologised to those customers who had been inconvenienced as a result of the carrier’s eight per cent delays.

“Our goal remains to be the travelling public’s first choice and to ensure this by providing safe, reliable, affordable and top-class service to our customers. We increased our flights from Miami to Guyana from two to three flights weekly earlier this year, as well as seasonal service from Orlando. We have also reached out to
Guyanese communities in other states around the U.S., including Atlanta, in response to their requests for the introduction of service and we are looking at the feasibility of some of these routes in keeping with our commitment to customer- oriented route schedules,” Fitz-Jim reported.

He also noted that for the holiday season, the airline has been fully booked and thus far there have been no delays or any other problems that would have inconvenienced passengers.

“It is our sincere hope that this trend continues indefinitely and that our customers continue to enjoy the Surinam Airways experience.”

Surinam Airways, he said, “looks forward to offering its superior level of service to
Guyana and Guyanese in the New Year and beyond. We welcome any feedback which our customers have about our service.”

Meanwhile, the airline moved an increased number of passengers on its Florida/ Guyana routes so far this year compared to 2015. The airline offers non-stop flights from Miami to Guyana three times weekly and seasonally out of Orlando. The increase in passengers this year on each leg of the route is estimated at about 40 per cent.