Guyana's flag carrier is a curious airline. It ignores destinations near its base in Georgetown and its only route is to New York and Toronto. The airline devotes itself exclusively to flying Guyanese expatriates between those two cities and their homeland - but that may change.
One year after privatisation, the newly baptised Guyana Airways 2000 is considering broadening its outlook. Managing director Nowrang Persaud says the airline could find a new niche by creating a badly needed hub for northern South America at Georgetown's Timehri Airport.
Flying to Guyana, Surinam or French Guiana involves a lot of backtracking and complicated connections. Persaud believes there is a market in flying people directly from northern Brazil to the USA. "At the moment, if you want to go from Belem [in northern Brazil] to North America, you have to go all the way down to Rio or Sïo Paulo first," he says. "We think there is a lot of potential to be exploited here."
Guyana Airways 2000 is going through difficult times. The decision to privatise was taken around two years ago when the airline ran into serious financial difficulties, accumulating debts of around $10 million. Services were suspended during the privatisation process due to problems with the only aircraft, a wet-leased Boeing 757.
Although Guyana is geographically in South America, politically it looks more towards the Caribbean. The country, a former British colony, speaks English, half the population is descended from indentured East Indian labourers, and the national sport is cricket.
Privatisation was out of the question a decade ago when Guyana was a staunchly socialist republic. Since then, it has opened up. Visa requirements have been dropped and tourists are encouraged to visit a country which, with a territory the size of the UK and a population of less than 1 million, is one of the last great rainforest wildernesses.
Air Caribbean initially showed interest in becoming a shareholder, but a consortium of nine local businesses was formed, named itself Aviation Investments and bought a 51% stake. The government retains a 49% stake.
The inaugural flight was made last July, but it has taken nearly a year for GA 2000 to return to the load factors it enjoyed two years ago. The airline began operating with an Airbus A300-600 wet-leased from Ansett, but decided in May to modify the lease and switch back to a 757. "It was too ambitious, so we decided to modify the lease," says Persaud. "We have not been able to fill it."
The carrier is seriously considering adding a second aircraft, possibly a Boeing 737, adds Persaud. "We have learned that it is not wise to have only one aircraft in service."
Source: Airline Business
