TALKS between the Ogle Airport Incorporated (OAI) and the National Air Transport Association (NATA) on anti-competition at the airport are continuing, Director-General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Colonel (Ret’d) Egbert Field disclosed on Thursday.

NATA has accused OAI of creating an anti-competitive and oppressive environment, but despite owning 60 per cent of OAI, Chairman of the Correia Group, Michael Correia Jnr. believes there is a level playing field at the airport, which has been renamed the Eugene F. Correia International Airport on the suggestion of President David Granger.
In 2015, Ms Annette Arjoon-Martins and Captain Gerry Gouveia, President and Vice-President respectively of the newly-formed National Air Transport Association (NATA) had criticised the OAI over their alleged dictatorial attitude.

According to NATA, the Ogle International Airport is being “controlled” by the Correia Group through the Board, resulting in the environment at the airport being anti-competitive and oppressive. Correia had said he finds the utterances of NATA at the time “wholly irresponsible to suggest that any single airline exercises a monopoly or control in this environment.”
On Thursday, Field, during a press conference, was asked to give an update on the talks featuring NATA and OAI and the Ministry of Public Infrastructure. He, however, could not state whether the parties were close to resolving their differences.

“I know the parties are working together, and the Ministry is being speaking with the parties, OAI and NATA, the operators… So, it is at that level of discussions,” he said, adding:
“I would say they are having some very fruitful discussions, which I think will eventually end in both sides being satisfied with the outcome.”
Asked whether he foresees any sticking points as talks progress, Field said, “I don’t think there are sticking points; they are talking, and they are coming to a common ground, but I don’t think there are any sticking points where one side is saying, ‘I am holding out unless I get this.’ They are discussing.”

MARKET DOMINANCE
NATA had complained in 2015 about the number of shares owned by the Correia Group, and what it considered market dominance. But Correia, during a media briefing, had said while the Correia Group of Companies were being criticised over the quantity of shares it owns, it was that same group that financed the airport when others backed out at a critical time.

“Early in the life of OAI, when there was need for critical cash injection to satisfy the mandatory safety and development obligations of the Lease Agreement, the Correia Group was left alone to meet the demand, or the OAI face the collapse of the Airport Development Project,” Correia said.

“All the shareholders at the time had an opportunity to contribute equally. They chose not to. There was no objection then on the part of any of the shareholders to the Correia Group meeting the financial demand for the survival of the airport,” he’d told reporters.
Correia had said, too, that though the failure of the other investors has resulted in one group owning the majority of the shares, the structure of the conditional Operators Agreement and the strict regulation of the Airport Operations Manual and Procedure by the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCCIA) will not permit anti-competitive and oppressive behaviour.

Correia, who is also the Chairman of the Board of OAI, said that while 60 per cent of the OAI is owned by the Correia Group, it only has two representatives on the seven-member board.
Those members include Michael Correia Jnr., Niki Correia, Malcolm Chan-A-Sue, Marcel Gaskin, Tony Mekdeci, Ronald Reece and Mazahar Ally. However, the Guyana Chronicle was reliably informed that only two of the board members are independent aircraft operators.
In his quest to prove its case of equality and transparency, Correia told reporters that OAI had frequently called on the previous People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government to implement the Airport Review Panel prescribed by the Lease Agreement which is intended to provide an extra layer of oversight on the operations and obligations of the airport and the government.

“We believe that this will help to improve our governance structure, and prevent any possibility of anti-competitive or oppressive behaviour or any allegations that the airport is operating improperly,” he said. “We have also asked this government to appoint this Airport Review Panel.”

COME A LONG WAY
Meanwhile, in explaining the controversy, Captain Gouveia told the Guyana Chronicle in 2015 that there is no doubt that the airport has evolved since its conception as a Sugar Estate Airfield with 21 operators utilising the Ogle International Airport, four foreign operators, and 17 domestic operators, including Trans Guyana Airways, Air Services Limited, Roraima Airways Limited, Oxford Aviation, Hinterland Aviation, Domestic Aviation, Phoenix Aviation, Hopkinson Aviation, Wings Aviation and JAGS Aviation, among others.

But he also maintained that the environment at the airport has become unfavorable with the OAI Board loaded with family and friends of the Correia. “A close examination of each board member of OAI tells a story of nepotism and cronyism,” Gouveia said.
In turning back the pages of history, he observed that the Aircraft Owners Association had an agreement that the presidency would be rotated among the members to ensure equity, good governance and coordination for development of the private aviation sector.

“Other operators feel that they are operating in an anti-competitive environment,” Gouveia maintained, contending further that this “exercise of monopoly control and anti-competitive strategies” are attempts to take over the Aviation Services at the Ogle Airport by the Correia Group.