CAL and Guyana must “grow together”, President Ali

CARIBBEAN AIRLINES LIMITED (CAL) AND GUYANA MUST “GROW
TOGETHER” President Irfaan Ali said during a virtual conference with senior officials of the
Trinidad and Tobago-owned airline and flag carrier.
Guyanese travellers are very unhappy with some aspects of CAL’s services and President Ali
laid those sentiments on the table during the virtual meeting.
Prior to the pandemic, CAL was operating more than 600 weekly flights to 19 destinations in the
Caribbean, North and South America, and in Guyana, was operating seven weekly return flights
to Miami; seven weekly return flights to Pearson International Airport in Canada; and 10 weekly
return flights to the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York.
Two years ago, a study ‘Competition in International Airline Routes: A Study of the
International Airline Sector in Guyana’ contended that “revenues from Guyana are used, in
essence, to subsidise Trinidadians’ travel between Trinidad and Tobago”.
According to the study, “CAL kept prices in Guyana artificially high due to its monopoly to
increase prices to offset the Port of Spain/Tobago air bridge that has financially haemorrhaged
the airline.”
In 2017, Trinidadian Member of Parliament (MP), Fazal Karim, described the Guyanese market
as a “cash cow” for CAL.
The airline has denied milking Guyanese, noting that “To pick out a few individual fares, as the
article and the report on which it is based have done, and then suggest that this indicates that the
airline is using these fares to subsidise routes elsewhere, demonstrate a limited understanding of
how airlines operate in the real world.”
On the issue of the need for mutual maturation, Dr Ali during Friday’s meeting said, “we have to
grow together. We need to have a technical discussion on the way forward to improve efficiency

and to come up with a master plan together to share with the people in demonstration of the
partnership.”
He reminded CAL officials of the need for reciprocity.
“We are aware that CAL has been an extremely good partner of Guyana, but you must also
accept that Guyana has been an extremely good market for CAL. It has never been a one-way
street, it has always been a two-way street, and all your previous Boards and CEOs would have
appreciated this.”
A sticking point in the airline’s servicing the Guyana route, is the lack of nationals employed by
the Port-of-Spain firm, and President Ali raised the thorny issue.
“I know that you are cutting costs and you are cutting staff. But we would like to see more
involvement of Guyanese in the operations, and by that, I mean we are willing to work with you
on increasing your footprint and your presence here in Guyana as part of your development
plans,” Ali told the CAL team.
The airline’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr. Garvin Medera blamed the ongoing global
pandemic for the paucity of locals among the company’s staff, explaining CAL is “very willing”
to continue with the push to support local content in Guyana. Medera said CAL started staffing
the company with Guyanese but was forced to cut-back because of the spread of the deadly
virus.
Other sticking points raised by the Guyanese President during the conversation with CAL
authorities were challenges with frequency and costs of flights to Canada and Miami along with
the troublesome issue of cargo capacity.
He reminded the CAL team that despite the pandemic which has disrupted every form of
business, shut down operations and killed millions globally, the relationship between Guyana
and the T&T airline continued since Guyana was kept relatively open and CAL’s operations
were sustained.
“It is under these circumstances that I wanted us to engage and to have a clear understanding
where CAL is heading. Also…we believe that CAL is a long and strong partner with us, and we

need to find a way in which that partnership is demonstrated in a stronger way,” President Ali
said.
CAL remains “eager and willing to partner deeper with our footprint in Guyana,” its Chairman of
the Board of Directors, Mr. Ronnie Mohammed, assured the President and his team which
included Public Works Minister, Juan Edghill; Tourism Industry and Commerce Minister,
Oneidge Walrond; Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar; National
Security Advisor, Captain Gerry Gouveia and CEO of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport,
Mr. Ramesh Ghir.
To help build trust among skeptical Guyanese travellers, President Ali floated the need for
technical level meetings between his Ministers at the meeting and CAL representatives to craft a
cohesive plan. This, he assured, will strengthens the partnership and at the same time be able to
spot existing opportunities for the partners.
Representing CAL at Friday’s meeting were General Manager, Mr. Carl Stuart; Mr. Mohammed;
CEO, Mr. Medera and Chief Commercial Officer, Mr. Yannis Gounaris
Caribbean Airlines Limited is the state-owned airline and flag carrier of Trinidad and Tobago.
Its predecessor was known as the British West Indies Airways (BWIA) founded in 1939.
CAL was founded on September 19, 2006 and commenced operations on January, 01, 2007.
The company’s slogan is ‘The Warmth of the Islands’.