RECOGNISING airport employees to be critical frontline workers, Public Works Minister, Juan Edghill, has engaged his colleague Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, to ensure that such persons are catered for in the countrywide rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination.Edghill’s comments followed an assessment visit to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), last week. “So, my engagement with the Minister of Health and the letter that has already been transmitted will very well see, in the very shortest possible time, all the staff, which will include immigration, customs, handlers and all the staff at the airport being vaccinated,” the minister said. He emphasised that it was imperative for airport employees to benefit from yet another layer of protection against the novel coronavirus, especially as the country remains poised to welcome an influx of potential investors and other visitors. In the same breath, Minister Edghill announced the return of Surinamese airline, Fly All Ways.

“Fly All Ways out of Suriname will be operating the Suriname route, the Barbados route and Curacao route out of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport,” Edghill specified. Guyana inked an Open Skies Agreement with Suriname last December in a successful bid to broaden global connectivity and tap into new and existing markets with the Dutch nation. The agreement was lauded for the opportunities it will open for both countries, especially in critical areas such as travel, tourism and trade. It is expected that within the coming years, the Guyana-Suriname relation would be further strengthened, owing to the construction of a bridge to link the two countries.

Edghill had previously stamped an ambitious 2025 deadline on the project, which is currently in its initial phase of selecting a contractor.
Nonetheless, as Guyana advances along its path to prosperity, the Government is anticipating requests from many more airlines wanting to operate to and from Destination Guyana. “We are happy that traffic at CJIA, even in a COVID environment, has been building and coming along and we want to get to a stage where we are opened back up full blast for business,” the minister told a recent press conference. Since the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) took office in August 2020, JetBlue Airways has gotten approval and has begun its operations in Guyana. Virgin Atlantic and other carriers have also applied to ply the Guyana route.