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Gov’t seeks competition in airline industry

Mar 04, 2010 News

…as Caribbean Airlines moves to increase fares

The government is looking to increase competition in the airline industry following moves by Caribbean Airlines to increase fares.
Secretary to Cabinet, Dr Roger Luncheon, yesterday described the move by Caribbean Airlines as “an injustice” expressing public sentiment that Guyanese are “being shafted.”
He said that the increased fares, especially on the Georgetown to Port-of-Spain route is not something the government was prepared to “live with” and hence the resort to encourage competition.
Dr Luncheon said that the government is prepared to deal with “the unreasonable and unfair fare structure and service provided by Caribbean Airlines to Guyanese particularly on the Cheddi Jagan International Airport to Port-of Spain (Trinidad) run”.
He said that while Prime Minister Samuel Hinds is seeking to address the matter with the Trinidad-based airline, the government is looking to bring in competition in an obvious move to put pressure on Caribbean Airlines to review its fare structure.
“There was an urge (by Cabinet) to apply market forces specifically by considering the attraction of airline competition to Caribbean Airlines,” Luncheon said.
President Jagdeo last year met with senior officials of Caribbean Airlines who then promised both a review of the fare structure as well as the quality of service the airline is providing.
However, those promises evidently did not materialise. This week, Manniram Prashad, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce complained that Guyanese were being exploited by the airline.
Guyana was also concerned that Caribbean Airlines removed its Area Manager, Carlton Defour, without notice.
Persons travelling with Caribbean Airlines to Trinidad and Tobago from Guyana and around the Caribbean will have to pay a minimal increase ranging from US$10 to US$40 while the air fares to New York, Canada and Miami remain the same.
Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Manniram Prashad during a meeting with Caribbean Airlines Manager, in Guyana, Carl Stewart, yesterday, was updated on the situation.
The Minister told the Government Information Agency (GINA) that there was a meeting of Caribbean Airlines officials in Trinidad and Tobago where Guyana’s concerns were raised and addressed.
He said that he was assured that the increase in airfares does not apply to Guyana alone, but the entire Caribbean.
The airline is expected to publish an advisory for passengers shortly apprising them of air fares inclusive of tax and will be monitoring the situation with the Ministry to ensure that passengers are not exploited.
He noted that the meeting with the Airline official was fruitful and that the Ministry and the airline have always enjoyed a good working relationship.
Meanwhile, some passengers had complained that when they tried to redeem their frequent flyer miles they were told that they were seeking to travel during ‘black out’ periods and as such could not redeem their miles.
However, this issue was addressed and Caribbean Airlines has committed to removing the ‘black out’ periods so that passengers can redeem their miles at any time.
The meeting resulted from recent complaints by passengers that it costs more to fly from Guyana to Trinidad that it does from Trinidad to New York.
The Minister pointed out that passengers complained that from New York to Trinidad the price is US$300 and from Trinidad to Guyana the price is the same or sometimes even more which he says is unfair to persons travelling to and from Guyana.
Caribbean Airlines enjoys a monopoly on this service to Guyana since it is one of the major carriers but Government will be exploring avenues to encourage other carriers to provide services for this route.

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