Guyanese Airline Official Calls for Single CARICOM Airspace

A top official in the airline industry in Guyana has issued a strong call for a single Caribbean airspace to help address the air transport woes facing the region.

Executive of the Aircraft Owners Association of Guyana (AOAG) Michael Correia, while addressing a function last week, made a direct call to Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Chairman President Bharrat Jagdeo and the Community’s Secretary General, for the establishment of a proper regional aviation network to help address what he describes as the current ‘airlift woes’ of the region.

Mr. Correia believes air transport is a vital role in fostering regional integration, since it will allow CARICOM heads and its people’s easier access to each member states.

“Regional air transportation is critical to the integration of the Caribbean Community, in this respect, I urge we think anew. A CARICOM airport hub which connects the Caribbean to South America is a good start, but we must plan and function as a region, and not as an individual country operating its own airline, or for that matter a single a monopoly airline operating inefficiently within CARICOM,” Mr. Correia argued.

He noted that billions of dollars have been wasted “and continues to be wasted by regional governments in pursuit of the old ideas” on air travel which are still ineffective adding that the effective solution to solve “the air transportation dilemma among our Caribbean Community President (Jagdeo) as we have already pointed out is to push for the creation of a single air space within CARICOM.

Mr. Correia says he has already put together a plan that will see this initiative bare fruit in a very short space of time

“A single air space governed by a central Caribbean Aviation Authority with offices in each country with one set of regulations, one set of inspectors that regulate one common safety standard and one common CARICOM licensing for pilots and engineers,” Mr. Correia outlined.