The start of low cost airline JetBlue’s service here has been stalled by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) global crisis, and the airline’s nonstop service to New York will instead be launched in October.
Meanwhile, the service offered by the rebranded Eastern Airlines, has also been paused over COVID-19. This was confirmed yesterday by Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Lt Col (Ret’d) Egbert Field.
Field told Stabroek News that his agency received correspondence from the airlines explaining that their operations here will be deferred to a later date.
JetBlue has indicated that it is pushing back the launch of its service due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Eastern Airlines, meanwhile, is unable to operate due to travel restrictions in place due to the virus and as such, the company has informed the GCAA that they will commence flying at a later date.
Eastern Airlines was scheduled to launch its non-stop flight service from New York to Guyana on March 5.
According to Field, Eastern Airlines touched down in Guyana on Wednesday without a single passenger, which was a condition that allowed the aircraft to land here. The flight, however, departed with US citizens who were seeking to return home following the imposed travel restrictions to combat the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic. It is likely that the airline will commence flights after the travel restrictions are lifted.
For New York-based carrier JetBlue, Field said the airline, in their correspondence, indicated that they will begin flights in late October.
JetBlue had proposed to operate daily flights using a new Airbus A321-271NX aircraft with seating capacity for 200 passengers from April 2. In February, Jet-Blue’s team led by Adam Schless, Direc-tor, Aircraft Transactions & International Counsel, met with the GCAA and shared the airline’s long term vision and plans for the Guyana market.
Eastern had proposed to initially operate two weekly flights on Thursdays and Sundays using Boeing B767-200 and Boeing 767-300 aircraft with seating capacity of 236 and 280 passengers respectively.
A release from the GCAA in February had said that Eastern Airlines had concluded its Security and Economic fitness assessment and was in the final stages of its safety assessment with the Authority.
