Dear Editor,
The suspension of service by REDjet Airline which brought airfares to an all time low between Guyana and the Caribbean should now push the government of Guyana to give Suriname every incentive to allow its national carrier, Suriname Airways (SLM) complete access to the Guyana market.
Instead of getting into the airline business again, the Government of Guyana should offer SLM an incentive package to link Guyana with Trinidad, Barbados, Brazil, Jamaica, Miami, New York and Toronto.
Suriname’s economy is steadily improving with the increase in price of minerals, oil and food. The gold, bauxite and oil industries in Suriname have been expanding, and so has the tourism industry. Financially, SLM has been doing much better in the past few years and there is speculation that SLM is looking to acquire more equipment to service Toronto, New York, the
Caribbean, and Brazil, and to increase services to Amsterdam. The President of Suriname, Desi Bouterse, is keen to see SLM become a regional carrier and this is especially so because of the fact that Guyana is void of a national carrier and the Guianas are not connected to Venezuela and Colombia.
The public should not be surprised that Caribbean Airlines/Air Jamaica
(CAL) will raise their airfares between Guyana, the Caribbean and North America since REDjet suspended flights. But there is a ray of hope; SLM will recommence service between Guyana, North America and Brazil on April 1st. SLM is here to stay according to its Vice President, Clyde Cairo. Prior to the collapse of REDjet, CAL controlled 70% of the Guyana aviation market and this will now increase to 81% which isn’t good for Guyanese consumers. This monopoly that CAL has isn’t good for Guyana. The government of Guyana must act with haste now.
Yours faithfully,
Ray Chickrie
