Greek investors table proposal for Nat’l airline

Aug 31, 2010 News

– Looking to lease three planes

Greek investors have submitted a proposal to the Guyana government for the establishment of an airline based here, President Bharrat Jagdeo announced yesterday.
In early March, he had signaled that the government wants to see a national airline once more, given skyrocketing prices to travel, particularly within the Caribbean.
Yesterday, Jagdeo said the Greek investors, whom he did not name, are looking to operate an airline based in Guyana with a fleet of three aircraft to service the Caribbean and North America.
He said the government was prepared to grant tax holidays to the investors. No local investors are included in this proposal, Jagdeo stated.
The President again stressed that the high cost of aviation fuel has been a major bugbear in attracting investors in the airline industry, but should the airline be able to refuel in Guyana as cheap as they do in North America, then the business could be feasible.
Following a visit to Venezuela in July, Jagdeo pointed to the prospect of Guyana buying cheap aviation fuel from Venezuela, saying this could boost prospects for the country having a national flag carrier once again.
He said the price of aviation fuel in Guyana is twice as much as what is paid at JFK airport in New York.
“If they have to refuel here, they simply cannot be competitive with the other airlines,” he stated.
He said a new airport and a national flag carrier would make Guyana more attractive for tourism. According to Jagdeo, there has been “an explosion” of Guyanese coming home and other people travelling here. He added that despite the fact that airlines have increased flights to Guyana, it is still “impossible” to get flights in to Guyana.
In early March, Jagdeo first announced that his government has not ruled out getting back into the airline business. The announcement came as the government lashed out at what the Head of State called “unconscionable” fare increases by Caribbean Airlines.
Caribbean Airlines is the main regional and international carrier out of Guyana, but it is the fare to destinations in the Caribbean, mainly Trinidad and Barbados, that the government is mostly outraged about.
Jagdeo had said that what Guyanese are being asked to pay to go to Trinidad and Barbados is sometimes more than what it costs from these destinations to go to the United States.
Caribbean Airlines, Jagdeo had noted, has argued that their fares are lower to the US because of the competition in these islands for flights to the United States.
If that is the case, the President had said, the Guyana Government could operate a service to Trinidad and Barbados.
The government was once engaged in the airline business, but when leasing one aircraft and employing 500 workers with a US$10 million subsidy was no longer feasible, the airline was closed.

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Greek investors table proposal for Nat’l airline

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