– Minister Prashad
MINISTER of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Mr. Manniram Prashad, on Wednesday challenged the private sector to take up the mantle in providing a new carrier service to Guyana, by investing in the airline business. He told a press conference that Government need not get involved in everything, but will set the stage, in light of the issues faced by travelling Guyanese.
Prashad said that last week, senior executives of Caribbean Airlines visited Guyana, and there were fruitful discussions involving them, President Bharrat Jagdeo, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, Minister Robeson Benn, and himself at State House.
Prashad said the visitors included the new Chairman, Mr. George Nicholas, and Vice-Chairman, Mr. Mohan Jaikarran, as well as the Guyana Manager, Mr. Carl Stewart.           
The issues were discussed in a way to better the service provided by the airline.
And Prashad said:“We were very happy with what we heard of all the plans and projections that Caribbean Airlines rolled out in relation to Guyana and their efforts to promote tourism in this country and make it the destination of choice.”
He noted that there have been different comments in the press about what Caribbean Airlines had promised and said he is very optimistic, because the key people seem to understand what they are doing and have a concern for people.
Prashad said: “For example, on Tuesday, flights out of Georgetown to New York were cancelled as a result of a snow storm so aeroplanes could not land there and, immediately, the manager of Caribbean Airlines telephoned me to tell me of the plans they have to take care of stranded Guyanese.
“This has never happened before. So, with this, you can see a change in attitude, with a new management team. So I am very optimistic but I have to trust them, as they recognised our problems in terms of the pricy air fares.”
He said that the price to travel from New York to Guyana is very expensive and unfair when compared to what Trinidadians pay from New York to Trinidad.
Prashad explained that Trinidadians pay a lower fare than Guyanese despite the travel distance being much longer.           
“We have to pay more when we fly from Trinidad to Georgetown; it is almost like the same price as that to go from Trinidad to New York. That is unfair. We feel that the burden is shifted and passed on to Guyanese people. We also discussed the treatment meted out to Guyanese and we feel that the service coming to Guyana is poor,” he stated.
Prashad said there is also an issue when a Guyanese passenger is intransit in Trinidad, especially, if the person bought duty free.
He lamented that the Customs in Trinidad seize the things purchased because the traveller has to disembark and go through Immigration and Customs, again, which is a tedious process.
In fact, after clearing with Immigration there, the person has to wait for 30 minutes to join the regular line and go through Immigration all over again, Prashad said.

Concerns
He said: “We recognise this and we told them of our concerns and they promised to address it, immediately, the intransit part and the hassle Guyanese suffer.”
Prashad noted that Caribbean Airlines merged with Air Jamaica and they fly to exotic destinations. They have acquired nine new planes which are in the process of being delivered to them now.
He said Caribbean Airlines realises that the stop in Trinidad is an issue and it would have to compete with Delta and the other airlines that want to come to Guyana, so they are offering direct flights from New York to Georgetown.
“Initially, within three months, they will offer three flights and they are exploring a possibility of flying from Ogle to Brazil, which is a good for us because a lot of Brazilians come through Lethem and, if there is a regular service to Boa Vista or Manaus, that will help us tremendously,” Prashad said.
He concluded: “So, with the new arrangements they have proposed, we feel that will be a good boost for more airlines to come into Guyana. Arrivals will increase during peak periods and we need more airlifts to Guyana. We are also looking at a direct Georgetown to Toronto flight and that will be explored later.”
Prashad said, from what he has seen with the new airlines coming in, Red Jet, a low-cost airline, will start very soon and, with the new carriers involved, Caribbean Airlines, hopefully, will address the New York to Guyana price and reduce it, because of competition from Delta, where a fare reduction is likely, too.
He anticipated that it will be well for the travelling public in Guyana and tourists and visitors.
Asked if Guyana is still looking to acquire a national carrier, Prashad maintained that all avenues are being pursued to see if what is promised would be delivered while negotiating with a carrier to secure a wet lease.
“We have explored that avenue, looked at cost effectiveness to see if we can have Guyana Airways back again. All those are options but, if there is an improvement in the service of Caribbean Airlines and reduction of air fare, then we do not have to go that way but we are not abandoning it because of this discussion and promises,” he said.
“We want to see it materialise in good faith, if the travelling public is happy, then we are also,” Prashad said.