NEW airline, Guyana Airways Corporation (GAC) is preparing to apply for certification to ply the Guyana/Cuba route.

At the same time, as part of its long–term plans, the company has invested heavily in setting-up the airline in recent months and when the country’s aviation status is upgraded to Category One rating of the US Federal Aviation Administration, it plans to serve direct flights between Guyana and North America.

The company is awaiting a favourable response from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) regarding its plans to establish its operations here. According to reports reaching this newspaper, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the new airline, Dr Colin Abrams, a Guyanese, wrote to the GCAA and informed the aviation body of its intentions to apply for an air operators certificate (AOC) to operate flights to Cuba in June.

Abrams, a former Guyanese Olympian and renowned pilot, flies with Delta Airlines in the US and piloted Delta’s flights into Timehri when that airline operated here. It is against this backdrop and the fact that there is no established international carrier that the operation came into fruition.

This newspaper understands that the GCAA informed the airline at the last minute that the aviation body did not have bilateral arrangements with Portugal, the country where the airline has established lease agreements for its two Airbus jumbos. This has been seen as a set-back to the company, but the firm remains hopeful that its plans will be realised to the benefit of the travelling public.

The airline expects to become operational by mid-year. It has already commenced work on the establishment of a corporate office on Duke Street, Kingston Georgetown.

The name Guyana Airways is synonymous with the travelling public here and overseas, since it bears similarities to the former flag carrier which operated years ago. GAC later went bankrupt and eventually faded, even after successor, Guyana Air 2000 tried to keep the airline afloat.

In mid-2016, the new company under the Facebook name “Guyana Airways Returns 2016,” appeared on social media and several persons welcomed the idea of a new airline, which plans to service direct flights along the lucrative Guyana-North American routes, including New York and Miami, using two luxurious Airbus 340 aircraft.

The company is a privately held entity, incorporated in Guyana and the United States. The board is chaired by Abrams, who is also a qualified medical doctor. The airman has reportedly given up his medical business in the US to pursue the airline venture.

For years, Guyanese here and overseas have been calling on the authorities to invest in an airline to serve key international routes under flag-carrier status. This is against the backdrop of delays and customer-service issues regarding other carriers which operate into the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).