In just over a year, Air Services Ltd (ASL), one of Guyana’s largest domestic aviation services, transformed an old cargo shed at Mahdia, a relic from the era of the Guyana Airways Corporation, into a critical cog in its interior aviation operations. Acquired then rebuilt at a cost of more than $70 million, the new hangar has become a vital transit point for the movement of cargo by air to some of Guyana’s remotest regions.
Annette Arjoon Martins, ASL’s Flight Operations Manager believes that the company’s most recent major investment is the reputation which it has built in providing an invaluable service to the country’s interior communities and is a logical consolidation of the foundation which it has built over several decades.
“Historically, we were the only company offering services in Regions Seven and Eight. Those are tough areas. Most of the other companies were offering services to the North West and Lethem where there were better airstrips. In fact we are particularly proud of our tradition in servicing these remote communities,” she says.
From a small one-aircraft operation started in 1957 by Yakub Mahazarally & Sons, owner of A Mahazarally & Sons, one of the country’s leading timber companies, ASL has expanded to a fleet of 17 aircraft, making the company the owner of the largest fleet among the handful of companies in the local aviation industry. Created, in the first instance to service his interior-based timber operations Yakub Mahazarally has, over time, succeeded in building a reputation for a far more expansive mission, that of servicing the interior as a whole.
Martins says that Mahdia has long been central to ASL’s operations and the acquisition of the old GAC facility there presented the company with an opportunity to provide an enhanced quality of service. Mahdia, she says, has long served as a transit point for flights to more remote regions and a new hangar means that more cargo could be moved over shorter distances, thereby reducing freight costs. The opportunity to develop the new hangar at Mahdia also coincided with the expansion of the gold mining industry and the significantly increased demand on part of miners for the movement of cargo to mining locations.
The new facility has both transformed and expanded ASL’s operations. Cargo is now moved to Mahdia and stored at ASL’s hangar in significantly larger quantities for transshipment to more distant locations. Martins says that apart from the expanded service which the company now makes available to clients with interior business interests, state agencies including the ministries of Education and Health also utilize the service to move school and medical supplies to communities. Martins estimates that cargo in excess of 240,000 pounds is moved from ASL’s Mahdia hangar monthly.
A member of the group of aviation companies involved in the development of the Ogle International Airport through Ogle Airport Inc, ASL operates several types of aircraft including the Cessna Grand Caravan, the Cessna 206, the Cessna 172 and the BN2A Islander.
ASL is a founder of the Aircraft Owners Association of Guyana and a member of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana. Over the years the company has partnered with the Ministry of Tourism and, along with other service providers in the sector, offers flights to various tourist destinations.
