Central Immigration at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri grounded Insel Air Aruba yesterday after what Director of Roraima Airways, Gerry Gouveia, called an “unfortunate mix-up” between carriers.
The carrier was grounded yesterday at 06:45hrs and passengers left stranded after the carrier refused to depart with eight Indian nationals who had entered Guyana on July 19, 2015 on Insel Air Curacao.
Gouveia told Stabroek News that the immigration department made a mistake by treating the two carriers as one business entity. He said that Insel Air Curacao had a scheduled flight departing today which could accommodate the Indian Nationals who had been denied visas to enter Guyana. They have since been in the custody of the Guyana Police Force.
Gouveia said that the Indian nationals boarded the Insel Air Curacao flight to Guyana after travelling from Colombia on an Avianca Airlines flight. He noted that the eight persons were travelling from Dubai and while they were denied entry by immigration into Guyana they were scheduled to depart from Guyana on August 4th flying on Copa Airlines to Sao Paulo, Brazil and back to Dubai, UAE via Emirates Air.
He said that immigration had the right to deny entry after a brief interview with the Indian nationals, but noted that visas into Guyana are generally granted upon entry.
A release by the CJIA stated that the carrier would be grounded until arrangements were made to transport the Indian nationals back to Curacao. Management apologised for the inconvenience to passengers booked on the flight.
