Opinion: Caribbean Airlines has a monopoly and has been able to push up its air fares

Dear Editor,

In a condescending SN letter of Oct 2, captioned ‘Caribbean Airlines has remained loyal to Guyana,’ Mr Vishnu Bisram attempted to portray Caribbean Airlines (CAL) as a benevolent regional air carrier which he claimed “has always been there to help Guyanese” and not itself as it benefits from a profitable market.

Despite Minister Benn’s assertion that other carriers offer competitive and better prices to Guyanese, CAL is a monopoly since there is no other scheduled airline flying the entire Guyana-Trinidad-North America routes.

Therefore without any competition it has been able to push up its fares sharply, making certain specific routes it serves from Guyana very profitable, generating handsome profits to subsidize the low fares paid by Trinidadians for the same destinations.

Mr Bisram is off the mark when he states that CAL has been investing millions of US$ in the Guyanese economy to meet its development needs, since there is no evidence in the country to support this wild claim.

Guyana has a small population, largely poor with not much discretionary income for them to fly overseas for pleasure or to conduct business. Therefore the passengers are just not there to support more than one carrier profitably, and the many fly-by-night airlines who came and went did not have deep enough pockets for the long haul to make them profitable.

CAL was able to survive because it is state owned and receives considerable subsidies. However, it faces serious financial and management problems with its acquisition of Air Jamaica and payments for its fleet of leased aircraft. These issues could impact negatively on its operation in Guyana as it strives to become a viable carrier.

Guyana despite the government’s claim is not an attractive tourist destination, as the country’s infrastructure leaves much to be desired. Tourists are not be attracted to a country with no potable water supply, regular black-outs, roads full of potholes and garbage piling up everywhere.

The proposed new airport with its six elevated boarding gates would hardly be an attraction for tourists or a prime selling point for potential investors as claimed. It is more likely to be a white elephant for years to come.

The runaway could benefit from an extension but it already accommodates long haul aircraft such as the Boeing 767, 757 and 737, and it is unlikely Guyana will have the volume of air traffic any time soon to support aircraft such as the Boeing 747 and Airbus 380.

The humbling and indifferent service meted out to Guyanese transit passengers at Piarco on their journey to North America is not a US security issue, as Mr Bisram would make us believe, but a callous disregard for their well-being. Sitting in a poorly ventilated aircraft for over two hours while it is being cleaned, re-stocked and searched is nothing short of belittling.

Unfortunately CAL will have to be the flagship air carrier for Guyana for the foreseeable future as the number of passengers needed to make another scheduled airline viable is far from coming. Hence Guyanese will have no alternative but to depend on CAL to fly them to their overseas destinations on its terms and conditions.

Yours faithfully,
Charles Sohan

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