GUYANESE-OWNED airline Fly Jamaica Airways is eagerly awaiting approval from the government to commence flights between Guyana and Cuba.

This development will further increase economic opportunities the Spanish-speaking nationals from that island nation, which they are already bringing to Guyana.

Fly Jamaica’s Managing Director, Roxanne Reece, told Guyana Chronicle on the sidelines of the opening of the company’s second ticketing office in Brooklyn, New York that the company believes in Guyana.

Hundreds of Cuban nationals travel here to shop every week, bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars to the local economy.

They seek mainly clothing and electrical items and fly mostly with Easy Sky to Guyana.

“We have everything ready,” Reece told the newspaper, adding: “We have captains, co-pilots, cabin crew. Everything is ready. We are just waiting on one of the governments to give us the word to go.”

Reece said as far as she is aware, permission for the Cuban operation is to be decided at Cabinet level and the company is awaiting that decision.

In the meantime, Fly Jamaica is also hoping to acquire a third aircraft before year -end.

With what appears to be an extremely bright future ahead, the company continues to expand. Reece said Fly Jamaica needs to have a third aircraft to improve its service and better cater to its customers.

The company intends to add another 757 to its existing fleet so that it can complement their existing size and capacity.

Speaking directly to customer service, Reece explained that the company would have to go with larger aircraft to reduce delays or setbacks if one were to be unavailable due to mechanical issues for instance.

She said the company is negotiating for the new aircraft and is confident of the expansion once good international business climate prevails.

Fly Jamaica just days ago opened its new ticketing office in Brooklyn, New York after hundreds of customers there requested a closer location to buy their travel tickets from the one they usually used in Queens, New York.

In March, the airline graduated 20 newly-trained Guyanese flight attendants.