CJIA passengers heading to US via T&T will also have to undergo security screening at Piarco

Passengers heading to the United States (US) from Guyana, and who will be transiting in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), will now have to undergo security screening before boarding their flight to the US, the T&T Civil Aviation Authority has announced.

This new move blanks the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, which was established in 2015 to promote a “One-Stop” security arrangement to improve the processing of passengers transferring at Piarco International Airport and the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) on Caribbean Airlines flights.

According to the T&T Aviation Authority, the direction comes directly from the United States Department of Homeland Security Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which issued an Emergency Amendment, to the aviation security measures applied at the Last Point of Departure (LPD) for flights to the United States.

“This Emergency Amendment takes immediate effect. The US TSA Emergency Amendment directs aircraft operators to screen all transfer and transit passengers and their accessible property at the Piarco International Airport as the LPD when travelling to the United States, prior to boarding the aircraft,” the Aviation Authority said on Tuesday.

Consequently, passengers originating from Guyana and other destinations transferring at the Piarco International Airport to the United States must undergo security screening together with their accessible property. It said the Emergency Amendment issued by the United States Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration supersedes the Memorandum of Understanding established between Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago for the Mutual Recognition of Aviation Security Measures, which allowed passengers originating from Guyana and transferring at Piarco International Airport, Trinidad, to continue their journey without undergoing screening.

The suspension is effective immediately. The Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority (TTCAA) said it regrets any inconvenience to passengers travelling from Guyana and transferring at the Piarco International Airport, which may have been caused by the suspension of the MoU as a result of the TSA Emergency Amendment.