After putting a hold on the operations of the Curacao-based airline, Insel Air following safety concerns, the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), has now cleared the Dutch airline to operate in Guyana with only charted planes. GCAA Head, Captain Egbert Field, told the Guyana Chronicle that the agency followed through with a letter to the Curacao government seeking an update on the status of the airline’s equipment, but no response has been received. Field had told the newspaper in an earlier report that the aviation authorities were concerned about the Curacao government having to ground 80 percent of their planes because of safety issues. A number of other occurrences also led to the letter being sent.
Field noted however that, “until such time (when the GCAA receives a response to their letter) we have put a hold on their equipment.” When asked about charter flights being utilised by Insel, Field said, “That is o.k., because it is their equipment that is being questioned.”
Field said that once the airline is using a safe charter company then the Authority will permit that. It is understood that one of the charters currently being used by Insel Air is Fly All Ways. Fly All Ways entered the Guyanese market last year with flights to Barbados and Suriname. Fly All Ways is a Surinamese carrier and would have stepped in after that country also put Insel Air on hold.
Surinamese authorities had also warned travel agencies not to use the carrier since they were using “borrowed equipment” and more than that, they are facing heavy financial burdens. The U.S. Consulate General in Curaçao also informed U.S. citizens that it temporarily prohibited U.S. Consulate personnel from flying on Insel Air. The Consulate had adopted the policy following an internal review of safety-related considerations.
It was pointed out that within six months, four Insel Air flights returned to Curaçao after take-off due to pressurization or electrical problems. It was stated that on one occasion during a flight from Curacao to Miami a precautionary landing was made due to irregularities in the cabin which caused passengers to sometimes use their oxygen masks. Another incident saw a pilot refusing to fly one of the airline’s planes from Saint Martin, claiming that the plane’s cabin was not in good condition.
Insel is said to have some 100 million euros tied up in neighbouring Venezuela, and that country is currently going through an extremely rough financial period. Checks to Insel’s local agent at Roraima Travel, Duke Lodge, proved that the airline continues its normal routes out of Guyana, but that depends on information from the airlines head office in Curacao. The agent said that Insel faced several cancellations earlier in the week and while they are booking tickets, they must first check with the head office to see if the flight would be scheduled.
The agent stated that, “Insel is going through a difficult time and most of our planes have been grounded.”