FOLLOWING months of intense negotiations and planning, Guyanese-owned Air Guyana, sister carrier to Fly Jamaica, has been granted approval from the Cuban government to operate flight services out of that Spanish-speaking country.
The Guyana Chronicle was told that the approval was granted to the airline sometime mid-year and they are expected to conduct regular non-stop flights between Guyana and Cuba. In an earlier interview with this newspaper, Fly Jamaica’s Roxanne Reece had stated that the company is hoping to commence flights to Cuba by December. However, checks have confirmed that the airline is still to get word about operations from the Guyana government.
During the opening of another New York ticket office in Brooklyn in June, Reece told the publication that all necessary requirements were fulfilled. She said while everything had looked well on the Cuba end, the company was awaiting a response from the Guyana government. “We have everything ready. 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.”
Last month, top Fly Jamaica and Air Guyana officials expressed gratitude to the Cuban Institute of Civil Aeronautics, “for granting all the permissions that allowed the start of this commercial route between the two nations,” Cuban online news agency, Caribbean News Digital Room said.
It was during the launch of the new service in Havana, Cuba that Guyana’s Ambassador to Cuba, Halim Majeed, pointed out the close economic ties between Guyana and Cuba. He said tourism is one area that will benefit the most, since, “We have a large diaspora in Canada and, as far as we understand, Guyanese-Canadians will come to Cuba and spend one week, then go to Guyana to spend another week, come back to Cuba and spend another week, and then go back to Canada.” Additionally, some 1000 Cubans are said to be making their way to Guyana on a weekly basis for the purpose of shopping, spending some half a million US dollars during their stay. Reece had told the Guyana Chronicle that to her knowledge, permission for the Cuban operation is to be decided at Cabinet level. The company has been waiting for a response several months now.