The boost to air travel between Georgetown and Toronto which was announced earlier this month will not be as significant as expected since the year round service is no longer on the cards.
Stabroek Business had reported on December 4 about a new weekly direct flight — Sky Service — to Toronto being made possible through a leased 757 jet by Toronto –based businessman Ram Tiwari.
However, reports surfaced yesterday which suggested that there were issues with Sunrise International owned by Tiwari. Reports indicated that Sunrise had violated the terms of the Travel Industry Act and following a meeting last Friday it had voluntarily terminated its registration.
Roraima Airways has done ground handling and ticketing operations for Sky Service and when contacted yesterday Chief Executive Officer Gerald Gouveia said while Sky Service will still be coming in for the next few weeks, the year-round service will no longer happen.
Asked for a reason he stated that there are some issues in relation to Tiwari’s licence and the few flights that will actually come in will not be handled by him. He could not provide any further details and Tiwari’s office could not be reached for comment. It is unclear how many passengers have been affected.
A source with the company had told Stabroek Business that a direct flight between Georgetown and Toronto was very much sought after and Sky Service was optimistic that the service would increase both business and leisure travel between Guyana and Canada. The most recent direct service — Zoom — had closed its operations last year.
Tourism Minister Manniram Prashad could not be contacted yesterday for comment on the issue.
