Guyana Chronicle
May 15, 2001

GUYANA Airways 2000 (GA 2000) yesterday announced it has suspended operations because of delays in wrapping up a deal to continue leasing the B-757 passenger jet it has been using.

Sources said violence from the opposition protests that have stirred unrest since the March 19 elections may have made potential investors jittery about taking a major stake at this time in the privately owned-operated national flag carrier.

But the airline's Board of Directors in a statement said it "expects to resume full operation of its flights as soon as it concludes the arrangements for the acquisition of a majority interest in the airline by a new investor."

"The airline expects to conclude these arrangements imminently", GA 2000 said.

The airline had been operating a Boeing 757-200 aircraft leased from the Australian Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services and it said the temporary suspension of operations was due to delays in "consummating" a new lease arrangement with Ansett for the continued operation of the jet.

The airline announced that it was making alternate flight arrangements with BWIA for its passengers scheduled to travel today.

It assured ticket holders booked for travel after today, that arrangements will be made for those tickets to be transferred to either North American Airlines or BWIA.

As a consequence, holders of tickets both in Guyana and North America are being asked to immediately contact the airline's offices so that their flight arrangements can addressed.

The board said it was reviewing the position of the airline and will make a further announcement "regarding its future operations at a later date."

GA 2000 said it sincerely regrets the inconvenience it has caused its customers.

It was not immediately clear what was the status of the airline's flight attendants and ground staff at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri following the suspension.

The airline also has in its employ five Guyanese pilots who were fully taken on board earlier this year to fly as First Officers, on the right seat, following the completion of ground school and simulator training late last year at Minnesota and Miami in the United States.

Four Ansett pilots are the Captains of the Boeing 757.

GA 2000, which replaced the former national carrier Guyana Airways Corporation (GAC) after it ceased to be a viable entity and was put up for privatisation, has had several ups and downs.

In January 2000, the airline acknowledged it was experiencing "difficult times" but was "not in crisis".

GA 2000 Chairman, Mr Yesu Persaud had said then too that the airline "can survive and it will survive" though acknowledging "we are going through difficult times as a result of market conditions."

The airline has also had to cope with the resignation of three of its top brass, the most recent Jamaican-born Chief Executive Officer, Mr Tom Scarlett who was an ex-BWIA General Manager in New York.

Operations launched to Miami and Trinidad folded and flights to New York and Toronto have been reduced with passengers complaining bitterly about frequently cancelled flight arrangements.

viation Investments, a consortium led by the Aircraft Owners Association of Guyana (AOAG) hold the majority shares, 51 per cent, and the government the minority shares in the airline.