It was considered a red letter day in the history of air transport when the Ogle International Airport commissioned the expanded 4,200 feet long runway this afternoon, raising Guyana’s image in the aviation sector and allowing for LIAT Dash-8 300 and medium range jets such as the Cessna Citation series to be accommodated.
In the presence of the group of private aircraft owners and officials of the funding agency, the European Union, President Donald Ramotar advocated for low airfares, alluding to the advantages derived from such offers.
It was considered a red letter day in the history of air transport when the Ogle International Airport commissioned the expanded 4,200 feet long runway this afternoon, raising Guyana’s image in the aviation sector and allowing for LIAT Dash-8 300 and medium range jets such as the Cessna Citation series to be accommodated.
In the presence of the group of private aircraft owners and officials of the funding agency, the European Union, President Donald Ramotar advocated for low airfares, alluding to the advantages derived from such offers.
“This is not a criticism of the tariff structure used… what I wish to drive home however is the need for all the operators to become more competitive and to appreciate that with more affordable fares come more business and greater public confidence and support for the public private partnership,” President Ramotar said.
The government regards the expansion of the Ogle International Airport as evidence of the growth in the physical infrastructure of the country and one that will augment the Government’s progressive plan to develop Ogle into a major municipal aerodrome and a port of entry and departure for regional flights.
It also supplements the plan to transform the Cheddi Jagan International Airport into a modern port replete with multiple terminals and an extended runway. Some $4.5B is allocated in the 2012 National Budget to cover the cost of such a project.
The Ogle Airport Inc., is managed by a group of private aircraft owners from Air Services Limited, Roraima Airways, Mekdeci Aviation and Trans Guyana Airways, operating approximately 10 scheduled international flights to Suriname, similar flights to Brazil, and 24 schedule flights to Lethem, Region Nine.
Privatisation of the airport became a reality under the Government, Inter-American Development Bank’s Air Transport Reform Programme that won the patronage of former President Janet Jagan, O.E.
President Ramotar said the option to close the airport had been examined but the alternative of placing operations in the hands of private management, taking into consideration the importance of the aviation sector to the economy, proved to be a wise decision.
We took a conscious decision to not just place this airdrome under private management but also to support efforts at developing it into a full-fledged municipal airport. Today, those decisions have been vindicated,” President Ramotar expounded.
Starting off as an aircraft dusting facility for sugar cane, the airport over the last 10 years, grew in rank as the busiest in the region with approximately 100 flights daily, moving over 200 passengers and 15 tonnes of cargo across the borders.
The completion of the runway extension project also brings it one step closer to Phase II certification.
Funding to the tune of 1.5M Euros was made possible for the project through a partnership effort of the European Union, the Caricom Secretariat and the Guyana Government and approximately $1B has already been invested, according to Chairman of the Board of Ogle Airport Inc and President of the Aircraft Owners Association of Guyana Michael Correia Jnr.
BK International was responsible for what was regarded a herculean task of constructing the main runway and on Tuesday, history was created when an executive jet aircraft leased by Jags Aviation landed for the first time at Ogle, confirming the start of a new chapter in operations at the airport.
The airport is still to be outfitted with commercial runway lights, terminal enhancement, parking aprons, taxiway, fencing and drainage but officials have assured that such works are soon in the making. President Ramotar pressed the need for regulation in the interest of passenger safety.
He said government has a keen interest in the aerodrome, not in a way that interferes with the autonomy of the operations but, in ensuring that the investments made at the facility promote robust competition in the interest of those who utilise the services of the airport.
