Over 100 Guyanese listed to return from Barbados, Trinidad via CAL this week
The Guyana Civil Aviation authority (GCAA) has confirmed that over one hundred Guyanese, stuck in Barbados and Trinidad. will be repatriated via Caribbean Airlines (CAL) this week. Director-General of the GCAA Egbert Field confirmed that a list of Guyanese passengers has been complied and forwarded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the airlines.
“We are now waiting on the time set for the flights by CAL,” Field said, “We anticipate it should be another two to three days before they are ready, given that the CAL needs get its aircraft and crew active and ready for these repatriation flights.” Commenting upon the initial delay in booking the flights for the Guyanese passengers, the GCAA Head noted that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had to first compile a feasible list of persons who would be able to cover the cost of the chartered flight back home.
“We had to take into consideration,” he told Kaieteur News, “that these are not commercial flights they are chartered which means they are operating at a higher costs to the individuals booking them. We could not confirm with the airlines because we had to ensure that the list contained enough people to cover the cost. The issue here was feasibility.” The flights were scheduled to repatriate Guyanese from Barbados and Trinidad on June 11th.
In a statement issued to the press, CAL noted the GCAA had advised that the necessary processes were not yet completed by the Guyana Authorities and they were unable to provide the listing of nationals for repatriation to Caribbean Airlines, which would facilitate the advertising of the flight and booking of passengers. In short, the deadline was not met because there were not enough passengers on the list to make the booking.
CAL has said however that the airline will continue talks with the Government of Guyana and the GCAA regarding proposed operations to repatriate Guyana nationals who have been stranded across the region since the closure of borders due COVID-19. “Caribbean Airlines remains committed to supporting repatriation efforts for the citizens of Guyana and looks forward to the completion of the processes and the provision of the necessary approvals from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority,” the airline said in the statement.
(Kaieteur News)