A decrease in the volume of mining activity by local small and medium scale miners coupled with limited numbers of interior-bound visitors to Guyana contributed to a sharp decrease in the number of interior flights out of the Eugene F. Correia Airport in 2017 compared with the previous year, Stabroek Business has learnt.
Airport Chief Executive Officer and Project Coordinator Anthony Mekdeci told Stabroek Business in an interview earlier this week that between 2016 and last year the number of flights between Ogle and interior locations could have dropped by as many as 1,000, from 20,000 to 19,000.
“There is no one reason. The reasons are multiple. Primarily, there has been a decrease in domestic operations in the mining sector, not from international miners but from local small miners because of the price of gold which went down in 2016. Additionally, you have other areas which have seen reduced flights because of an increase in road transport moving things like fuel into the interior.
