GCAA downgrades CJIA safety rating but airport remains safe

Last Updated on Thursday, 23 October 2025, 21:44 by Writer

The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has downgraded the Cheddi Jagan International Airport’s (CJIA) rescue and firefighting capacity, but a top official of that regulatory body said the airport remains safe.

GCAA Director-General, Retired Lt. Col. Egbert Field declined to provide any information about the recent downgrade in that category to number five, citing the need to ensure confidentiality of all inspections. Mr Field, however, assured that the CJIA remained safe when compared to the overall lower categorisation of other airports in the Caribbean and extra-regionally by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). Guyana, he said, is rated 63 percent.

However, well-placed sources have told Demerara Waves Online News that the CJIA has been downgraded from category eight to category five because of limitations both in the fire tenders and number of personnel assigned to that airport.

Based on the GCAA’s own benchmarks, category five means the availability of 8,100 litres of water to assist Level A foam. The ICAO says Level A foam must be able to extinguish hydrocarbon fire in an area of 2.8m².

Prior to the downgrade before the expiration of the certification at the end of September 2025, the CJIA’s rescue and firefighting capacity had enjoyed a category eight rating that would have allowed for the provision of at least 27,300 litres of water to assist Level A foam concentrate in putting out a hydrocarbon fire in the same area.

Repeated efforts to contact officials of the CJIA for comment proved futile.

However, sources said the airport’s rescue and firefighting rating was reduced because the appliances at the station were not working efficiently due to too many mechanical defects such as air leaks which cause the response time to be slow. The sources said that at least one appliance requires a firefighter to dismount, run to the rear with a tool to open the water/foam tanks to pump instead of pressing a button inside the cabin.

Fire Chief Gregory Wickham on Thursday told Demerara Waves Online News that the Guyana Fire Service has since taken remedial action. He said more firefighters have been deployed and additional personnel would be deployed after another batch graduates. “We’ve put in place all the necessary requirements for those things that they (be) identified to be put in place,” he said. Told that firefighters needed to exit the cabin to open the tanks, he said, “there were some mechanical issues but those were all fixed.”

Mr Wickham said it was now left to the GCAA and CJIA to do their regular checks and inspections.