Club Caribee says the belief that Guyana’s tourism product was being stifled because of irregular flights from the UK prompted its decision to put Zoom Airlines into the local industry.
Zoom’s Boeing 767-300 ER, 267-seater will make its first flight to Guyana from the UK on November 20. At first it will fly once per week and once settled it will add another flight. On each return flight Zoom will stop in Port-of-Spain. The airline will be manned by a British crew.
In an interview with Stabroek News earlier this week, Club Caribee Managing Director Robert Aidat-Sarran said after Caribbean Airlines pulled out, connections to British Airways had gotten from bad to worse extending the overall trip to about 17 hours. Aidat-Sarran, a London based Guyanese who left here as a child said he felt that the situation would eventually make persons stop travelling to Guyana which would negatively impact tourism. “So we did our viability study and thought coming to Guyana alone is not feasible and so we incorporated Trinidad and Tobago and then to London, so we sort of incorporated the two markets,” he said.
Aidat-Sarran said he is aware that hardly any profits would be made initially, “but we will profit in the long run but we don’t expect any automatic profits.” Looking ahead, he said the airline was looking to offer a permanent straight flight from the UK. “Tourism would receive a boost when the airline starts to fly direct to the UK. So we will be putting in a permanent mode of transport from Guyana to the UK. And the Europeans who want to come here would have no hindrance because they would not have to wait on connection flights and this is sort of a hindrance right now,” he said.
Already he said many persons have booked the first flight but the airline could not afford to make any special offers particularly in light of soaring fuel prices. Currently 50 pounds sterling is included on ticket prices and Aidat-Sarran said that this may have to be reviewed with a view to increasing it.
