
A new direct air route between Guyana and Canada was inaugurated last week.
The service, which is a partnership between Canadian Jetline and Fly Always Air Services, touched down at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) from Toronto with over 100 passengers.
A host of delegates were on hand to greet the passengers as they deplaned following their historic journey.
Minister of Public Works, Bishop Juan Edghill, expressed his delight about the new service that gives Guyanese travellers other options.
Currently, Caribbean Airlines is the only company offering a direct or one-stop service to Canada from Guyana.
“Your government being led by President Ali has been working every day to ensure that Guyanese who want to come home for fun, for family engagements, for business as well as Canadians who want to come to Guyana to experience our Tourism package…must be able to get here with ease and with comfort and this is just one of the many interventions that is being made to bring that to fruition,” Edghill stated.
Flights from Toronto to Georgetown operate on Sundays and Tuesdays and from Georgetown to Toronto on Mondays and Wednesdays.
Canadian Jetline will use their Airbus A320 aircraft, which has a capacity of 174 seats, to operate the route that includes a brief refuelling stop in the Dominican Republic.
The Ministry of Public Works noted this would result in 36,192 seats annually.
Minister of Tourism, Industry, and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond, noted the stop in the Dominican Republic augurs well for Guyana’s tourism and business sectors.
“The DR is a mammoth in the tourism sector since they have been at it for so long and there is so much that Guyana can learn in terms of twinning our products. Where people for just two hours they can fly and come and experience our amazing country, our ecotourism, our rain forest, our waters, and our adventure and so much that Guyana has to offer. Not to mention the large diaspora that Guyana has in Canada,” she said.
Guyana is already seeing a boom in tourism as over 480,384 travellers have visited the country. The government noted that his figure is eight per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels in 2019.