Guyana’s international civil aviation compliance increases further

Last Updated on Monday, 27 January 2020, 17:50 by Writer

Director General of the GCAA Lt.Col.(ret’d) Egbert Field

Guyana’s latest civil aviation rating has moved up to nearly 77 percent, Director-General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Retired Lieutenant Colonel, Egbert Field said Sunday in New York.

He told an election campaign fundraising meeting that from 2007 Guyana’s compliance with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) rules and regulations was 44 percent, but by 2016, due to “political will” by the coalition-led administration, that figure moved to 64.6 percent and after an audit last week the figure now stands at 76.9 percent. “If that isn’t progress, what else is?” said Field.

Before returning to head the GCAA, Field – a former GDF and commercial air pilot with the now defunct Guyana Airways Corporation – was also Director of Flight Safety Department of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA) before returning to his homeland. While in Jamaica, he was Transnational Inspector for the Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System (CASSOS).

Aviation Minister, David Patterson said with such a level of increasing compliance, government planned to eventually seal a public-private partnership for a national airline between 2020 and 2025. “In the next five years, we will, of course, sit down now with a partner; hopefully a nice Guyanese private sector partner and discuss the reintroduction of an international airline.”

Before a Guyana-registered airline could fly to the United States, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport’s hub type (percentage of annual passenger boardings) would have to be recategorized to 1 percent by that country’s Federal Aviation Authority (FAA).

He also stated that in another five years Lethem would have a new regional airport.

Patterson noted that Guyana has not been bringing in fly-by-night airlines that essentially begin operations during the peak season and then flop during the low season, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded on both sides of the Atlantic.