Guyana’s Minister of Tourism Manniram Prashad is urging Caribbean airlines and governments not to see the new low-cost carrier REDjet as a competitor but as a complement to regional travel.
His comments came during a Press briefing at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport after REDjet’s inaugural flight to that country yesterday morning.
“I would like to say to the other airlines and to the Caribbean countries that own airlines, my view is, REDjet is not competition. REDjet is here to complement the service that you are doing. We must look at it in that aspect,” Prashad said.
“We saw only recently the US$450 fares from Trinidad came down significantly by US$200. And I saw another airline . . . talking about restructuring and they are in the headlines. They are getting a new aircraft.
“So almost immediately, before REDjet touched down at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, we saw the impact that this airline will have on the consumer public, the travelling public, for all Guyanese and for people in the Caribbean.”
The minister assured chief executive officer and chairman of REDjet Ian Burns that the Guyanese government was prepared to do “everything in its power” to facilitate the carrier’s flights to Guyana.
Prashad felt it would also solve some of the many problems travellers would have experienced with other regional carriers while in transit.
“I don’t want to knock down any airlines,” Prashad said, “but coming in from Europe, when [passengers] come to Barbados and have to transfer to a smaller aircraft, there are major problems there.
“Baggage [is] left behind routinely as a norm because people coming from Europe with two [bags], when they come with a smaller airline, they can only come with one or sometimes none. So I think REDjet will fill that void immediately.”
Prashad added that they had been getting several enquiries about REDdjet and its services to Guyana and he was therefore working with other agencies outside the state to make sure REDjet flies there regularly.
REDjet is based in Barbados and will offer low fares between Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad. (MM)