Start-up carrier Guyana Airways (Georgetown Cheddi Jagan) plans to lease two A340s from Portugal and is looking at Cuba and North American destinations, reports The Guyana Chronicle. Guyana has been without a national carrier since the failure of Guyana Airways (1963) (Georgetown Cheddi Jagan) in 2001 and its brief successor Guyana Air 2000 (Georgetown Cheddi Jagan) in 2003.
A Facebook group called "Guyana Airways Returns 2016" reported in March that it had hit a snag in its application for an Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority. The Guyana Chronicle reports that because there is no Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between Guyana and Portugal, the airline's plans to lease aircraft from a Portuguese carrier have been put on hold. The news site had also previously reported that the aircraft to be leased were A340s.
Should the new start-up overcome its various obstacles, it plans to serve Cuba initially, followed by North American routes such as New York and Miami. These latter two destinations would be pending Guyana's attainment of Category 1 status by the US Federal Aviation Administration.
Currently flights from Guyana are provided by Caribbean Airlines, Fly Jamaica Airways, Dynamic International Airways, LIAT (Antigua and Barbuda), Surinam Airways, Copa Airlines, and Gum Air to Bridgetown, Kingston Norman Manley, Miami International, New York JFK, Panamá City Tocumen International, Paramaribo International, Port of Spain and Toronto Pearson.
