Latest update February 6th, 2025 7:27 AM
Ogle airport name change was agreed to by shareholders, Gouveia – Correia
– before reversing position
By Jarryl Bryan
Back in September, during the commissioning of the Trans Guyana Beechcraft 1900D, President David Granger proposed that the Ogle International Airport should undergo a name change to the Eugene F. Correia International Airport.
Chairman of the OAI Michael Correia Jr.
Eugene F. Correia was recognized as a pioneer in Guyana’s aviation industry, but the fact that his great-nephew Michael F. Correia Jr. is the Chairman of the Ogle Airport Incorporated (OAI) and the Correia group is the majority shareholder of the OAI, has caused most local operators to reverse their decision to support the change.
When the idea was first mooted, they all supported the name change and stated their support in writing.
Michael Correia Jr, at a press conference on Friday revealed that initially there had been “no objection” responses from all the shareholders not on the Board of Directors. He added that Captain Gerry Gouveia had “called (him) personally to offer his support.”
During the formation of the rival group, National Air Transport Association (NATA) on Wednesday, Gouveia, who is the Vice-President of this group and also Head of Roraima Airways, had decried the proposal on the grounds that the name change would complicate an already difficult situation.
While denying that the launch of the association had anything to do with the proposition to rename the airport, Gouveia had pointed out the perceived strategic disadvantages.
“We believe that the President did not take into consideration the issue of renaming the airport after one of the families that is the major competitors of the airport,” he had said. “One of the problems facing the industry at Ogle is that they have a competitor regulating its competitors.”
“If you take that further and rename the airport after that competitor you compound an already difficult and oppressive situation,” Gouveia also noted.
Vice President of NATA Gerry Gouveia
However, he had stated that the association does not view the renaming of the airport as an issue that cannot be resolved through discussion. During the launch, which was held at the Georgetown Club, Gouveia revealed that all nine of the aviation operators endorsing NATA have “unanimously” voted against the renaming the airport, and have written strong letters against it.
Correia Jr. noted that following the President’s announcement, the Secretary of the OAI Board had written to all the shareholders concerning the matter. “No objection” responses had been received from all the non-board shareholders, even Gouveia.
“When I then put the (name change proposal) to the Board, two members initially expressed reservation before the Board unanimously agreed to the proposed name change,” Correia revealed. “The Board subsequently advised the President of its decision, after which we received a letter from Air Services Ltd. with a reversal of their position.”
Expressing his disappointment in the arguments against the name change, Correia noted that the name change proposal transcended race, name and background and came down to what Eugene F. Correia has done for Guyana.
“The fact that a Correia was chosen for the airport to be renamed is not the important point,” he posited. “It is the fact that President Granger and his Government has decided that Eugene F. Correia is a Guyanese that has made a difference to our country and is being honored and highlighted so that the youths of Guyana may know their history.”
He also observed that the name change still requires a number of regulatory and administrative changes. He noted that the airport has written the Ministry of Public Infrastructure as required by the lease agreement and is awaiting the Ministry’s endorsement of the process.
Eugene F. Correia was considered a pioneer in local aviation. Formerly a prospector, he was later elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly. He became the first Minister of Communication, Shipping and Civil Aviation in Guyana’s first post-Independence Government.
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