GA launching Miami flights
By Desiree Jodah
Guyana Airways (GA) 2000 has announced its entry into the Miami market with two non-stop flights per week and plans to introduce a Frequent Flyers Club. Chief Executive Officer of GA 2000, Anthony Mekdeci at a press conference yesterday announced that the airline would be flying every Fridays and Sundays to Miami, USA from October 29. Currently GA's rival, BWIA flies twice a day to this destination. Fares to this destination would be announced shortly. The fare currently offered by BWIA to Miami is US$320. Mekdeci said GA 2000's fare would be in this range. According to him, the competition provided by the airline's entry into the market with its non-stop flights to North America has driven fares down to an all time low. Passengers could travel to the US for as low as US$350 now. Mekdeci also told Stabroek News that the airline is about to introduce a Frequent Flyers Club which grants incentives to regular flyers with the company. It had been noted that this was one of the incentives offered by GA 2000's major competitor BWIA, which had kept some Guyanese travellers from switching to the national carrier. Recapping the airline's achievement since it was launched exactly three months ago today, Mekdeci said during this time the company had to build the airline from scratch. It has since launched five non-stop flights to New York and two to Toronto per week. According to GA 2000's CEO, the airline has also just concluded a "code-sharing" and partnership agreement with Suriname Airways. This would allow both airlines to share facilities and ticketing to Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and North America resulting in benefits from each other's routes. Mekdeci said this arrangement would become operational shortly when Suriname Airways restarts its service to the Caribbean countries from Guyana. He noted that GA 2000 made aviation history in Guyana when it became the first national carrier operating as a private company in a joint venture with government. Aviation Investments Limited, a private company, took control of the former Guyana Airways Corporation with a majority share of 51 percent. Government is the minority shareholder with 49 percent. The airline was renamed GA 2000 by its new owners.
|