By Zena Henry
Wings Aviation is confident that they can bring excellent aviation service to the Guyanese public and has made a formal application to be the country’s national carrier.
Wing’s Aviation’s Managing Director, Roxanne Reece confirmed the move to the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to have one of its junior companies, Air Guyana serve the nation under a Guyanese banner. The company also operates Fly Jamaica Airways which experienced significant increase in passengers according to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) 2016 performance report.

Benefits of a national carrier include the pride in one’s country having their own plane, but the carrier would be based in Guyana and ready for service based on the movement of the Guyanese public. In countries where national carriers are subsidised by government, like Trinidad and Tobago, ticket prices remain reasonably low as well as constant service. Such a carrier would reduce Guyana’s dependency on foreign airlines or charter companies that would not necessarily accommodate passengers in the same manner they would those of their base country.

Reece said that Air Guyana would be well branded to reflect its country of origin. “Everything is already in place,” she said. “It’s now just a matter of paper work.” When asked, the (GCAA) had indicated Wings Aviation’s interest in being the national carrier but said at the time, that no formal application had been made to the Authority.
Expanding service

The company’s application comes at a time when Guyana is much closer to attaining Category One status and the discovery of oil which is expected to increase airlift movement in the country. Air Guyana is expected to fly the Cuba and New York routes from Guyana, while Fly Jamaica will continuous its current route. Reece noted however the setback following an incident that occurred at CJIA involving a Caribbean Airlines plane. The Caribbean Airlines carrier had knocked off the tail cone of the parked Fly Jamaica Boeing 767. Reece explained that the company was supposed to commence its regional charter service to Cuba and Bermuda last December, but given that incident, they were unable to do so.

Reece highlighted the increase in passenger traffic from Cuba to Guyana for shopping purposes and explained the difficulty that they face in moving their items. “Sometimes they (Cubans) must go through another country to get their goods home after purchasing in Guyana.” It is expected that come next month Fly Jamaica’s damaged carrier will be back in service and ready to operate the new charter routes. Further expansion of the aviation company include the ongoing six week training seminar currently taking place at Fly Jamaica’s head office for its second batch of Guyanese flight attendants.

These new flight attendants are said to be necessary for the increased service that the airlines would be offering. Guyanese could see Fly Jamaica’s larger Boeing 757 and 767 operating in Guyana and Cuba under its new banner while an additional 737 is set for Jamaica. Wings Aviation prides its success and continued growth less than five years on the Guyana-NY, Canada and Jamaica routes to “quality service and reliability.” “We really have a wonderful staff and great flight attendants,” The Managing Director charged.

She said the company’s motto “First class anywhere onboard,” really means what it says as every passenger is treated to the same excellent service. Wings Aviation says it is ready to deliver quality service to the aviation sector in Guyana since not only do they just operate airlines, they are well equip to render the auxiliary services. The agency provides training for all its flight attendants, mechanics and engineers among, workers. They maintain close ties with their Jamaican counterparts since that country provided the opportunity for the birth of Fly Jamaica when Guyana could not. Jamaica achieved the highest ranking for implementing international civil aviation standards, in the English-speaking Caribbean last June. They are 83.38 percent ICAO compliant.