Latest update November 23rd, 2024 1:00 AM
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Insel Air fleet not allowed here due to safety concerns
The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has taken a decision to not allow the Insel Air fleet to fly into Guyana due to safety concerns.
This was confirmed yesterday by Director General of the authority, Colonel (retired)
The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has taken a decision to not allow the Insel Air fleet to fly into Guyana because of safety concerns.
Egbert Field.
Field via telephone indicated that the air service has not been banned, nor has their permit been dismissed or revoked.
Quizzed on what were some of these safety concerns, Field said that Insel had “experienced maintenance problems”. He did not venture to say further.
Insel Air – formally Insel Air International B.V. – is a Dutch Caribbean carrier that serves as the national airline of Curacao. It is headquartered in Maduro Plaza, Willemstad. Insel Air currently serves 22 destinations throughout the Caribbean, South America and North America
The Director General said that the authority is waiting on the authorities in Curacao – which plays the oversight role – to provide a status report on the maintenance of Insel Air aircraft and their equipment.
This report, he explained, will determine how soon the service will be able to resume its operations here.
This revelation would come against the backdrop of reports emanating from the Curacao media about Insel Air facing some financial difficulties as well as safety issues with its fleet.
Curacao authorities have grounded most of the airline’s planes over safety concerns. Reports out of Suriname state that the Curacao’s Civil Aviation Authority has grounded almost all of Insel’s planes.
The Curacao Chronicle reported weeks ago that there exists a plane graveyard where planes are “dumped” because of the company’s alleged lack of sufficient funds to effect repairs.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Roraima Airways, Gerry Gouveia, told this publication yesterday that Insel Air is currently going through a massive restructuring exercise.
He added that the Director General of the GCAA, had issued a letter to the management of the service to meet, however, the team will do so as soon as the restructuring is completed.
Delving into details, Captain Gouveia explained that Insel Air has millions of dollars in ticket sales “tied up” in Venezuela. This, he pointed out – amongst other issues – has forced the Curacao Government to restructure the airline’s operations.
In the interim, the service is using FlyAllways as a charter to continue their operations here.
Captain Gouveia could not say when the service will resume its operations here and reiterated that top officials from Curacao will visit Guyana when the overhaul is done.
This revelation would come just four days after the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) called for an urgent meeting of the Council for Trade and Development (COTED) to address air transport issues within the Region.
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