Fly All Ways was properly examined before being approved to return to Guyana airspace – GCAA Director
Kaieteur News – In light of recent concerns raised about the government granting “Fly All Ways” approval in Suriname to rejoin Guyana airspace, the Director General of Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), (ret’d) Colonel Egbert Field has been assured that the airline’s application has been properly vetted.
GCAA Director General, (retd) Colonel Egbert Field
Last month, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill had announced that the airline had been approved to operate flights between Paramaribo, Georgetown and Antigua; Paramaribo, Georgetown and Barbados; and Paramaribo Georgetown and Curacao.
Fly All Ways first operated flights in Guyana in 2016. However, its presence here was short-lived, as it ceased operations in 2017, claiming it was not receiving customer support.
This announcement recently marked the return of the airline, and in that report it was noted that its reputation was replacing a deep solicitation. The main concerns were that the owner, Dilip Sarjoe, was involved in several scandals and his sister company, Blue Wing was also on the European Union (EU) blacklist.
A 2015 article by this newspaper highlighted that Sarjoe was promised lucrative concessions to make Guyana one of his “hubs”, according to people familiar with the development. In addition, the Curacao Chronicle report revealed that sources also said the development and concessions granted were exposed in secrecy and lacked transparency. It was reported that in order to avoid the sister company luggage, which was listed by the EU, Fly All Ways was registered as a separate entity.
It was also reported that Blue Wing had many accidents and was regularly listed by the EU which resulted in it being completely banned from EU air in July 2010.
European Commission Vice President responsible for Transport, Siim Kallas, made a stern statement on the company’s operations, saying, “We cannot afford to compromise on air safety. Where we have evidence that air carriers are not carrying out safe operations or where regulators are failing in their obligation to enforce safety standards, we must take action to guarantee safe air to our citizens when they travel. ”
Nevertheless, Field has claimed that when an airline is audited, it is the airline that makes a direct request that concerns focus on. During the vetting, he said key areas examined included, but not limited to, airline, aircraft and personnel / employee finance. He added that the GCAA is responsible for rigorous vetting of all airlines applying to operate in Guyana and once the vetting exercise proves to be satisfactory, the GCAA makes the recommendation to the government , which later takes the prerogative of approving that airline.
In the case of Fly All Ways, he said that was done, so they have now been approved to operate again in Guyana.
Fly All Ways aircraft