Terror threat to CAL triggers cancellations

Last Updated on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 20:59 by GxMedia

Transport Minister, Robeson Benn Monday told the National Assembly that there was a 13 percent drop in the number of passengers due to the terrorist threat against Caribbean Airlines. An airline official earlier Monday had told Demerara Waves that the flight which was mentioned in in the threat did not affect the number of booked passengers, including Americans, who had departed.

Delivering a statement, Benn said Guyana wanted every step taken for the threat to be investigated by Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States. He hopes that such a probe would determine “who made the threat and the specific nature of the threat.”

He reported that the telephone threat was made to Caribbean Airlines in Barbados by someone with a Trinidad accent. “The person ran off immediately when he was preessed for more information,” said Benn.

The Transport Minister said CAL’s flight BW 484, the flight that was identified by the caller, has since landed safely at the John F. Kennedy International Airport. ‘The specific flight departed without incident but with some delays as a result of sreeeniing and landed successfully at JFK Airport,” he said.

The Chedddi Jagan International Airport and Caribbean Airlines plan to retain the elevated threat level and continue 100 percent checks on all passengers.