Guyana welcomes passengers on REDjet’s inaugural flight

The highly-anticipated inaugural commercial flight by REDjet arrived Tuesday morning (May 10, 2011) at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri from Barbados with 149 passengers on board.

Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Manniram Prasad was among the welcoming party which greeted the excited visitors, including top REDjet officials; representative of the Barbadian Government, Public Relations Consultant with the Barbados Ministry of Tourism, Hugh Foster, and members of the Barbados media.

Addressing the gathering assembled at the welcome ceremony, Minister Prashad lauded REDjet for the initiative. “Today is a very special day, special in many aspects,” he said recalling that when the idea was made public, no one believed that it was possible, noting that REDjet is here today and they have delivered on their promise.

Apart from providing low cost air fares and hassle free travelling, Prashad said more persons, especially Barbadians, are expected to visit ‘Destination Guyana’. Prashad encouraged the other airlines that ply the Caribbean route to view REDjet not as a competition, but “REDjet is here to complement the service that you are doing”. He expressed the hope that good sense will prevail and that they will be allowed to travel from Trinidad to Guyana very soon.

Alluding to the impact of the airline, he said only recently, the US$450 fares from Trinidad were reduced significantly and another airline is already talking of restructuring. Prashad said, “I would like to assure the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and their shareholders that His Excellency President Bharrat Jagdeo and the Government and people of Guyana welcome REDjet with open arms, and will do everything in its power to facilitate REDjet coming to Guyana.”

In addition, he said tourism in Guyana has gone a far way in a very short time, and only recently Guyana’s Surama Village and Barbados Harrison’s Cave jointly copped the coveted Caribbean Excellence in Sustainable Tourism Award recently by Caribbean Tourism Award (CTO)-TravelMole.

REDjet’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Ian Burns paid a very special tribute and extended appreciation to President Bharrat Jagdeo; Minister Prashad; and other officials for lending their support to the initiative. Mr Burns announced that the airline will initially be flying the Barbados/Guyana route four times weekly and hope to become a daily service soon.