GCAA anticipates drop in airfares with resumption of intl. travel
DPI, Guyana, Friday, July 3, 2020
Director-General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Lt. Col. Egbert Field is of the view that the resumption of international travel to Guyana will result in a reduction in ticket prices.
Speaking on NCN’s Context programme, Field noted that a few airlines may have had a monopoly on flights during the allowance of limited repatriation at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA); resulting in higher than average airfares.
With the airports reopening, the Director-General posited that the present circumstance is likely to experience a change.
“As we begin the commercial schedule which should be next month, you will have Eastern on the run, you will have American back in, you’ll have Caribbean [Airlines]. I think the competition will help in levelling off the prices,” the GCAA head said.
Field explained, “there will not be the number of passengers wanting to fly initially because of the measures which are in place, because you have to get a COVID test and when you get there is quarantine isolation, and so airlines will be competing for the few passengers and there will be offering good rates.”
While the second phase of the reopening of the country’s airports to international travel is set commence August 1, the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) will continue to grant limited repatriation flights for stranded Guyanese, diplomats and foreign workers.