US rejection of Fly Jamaica, CAL will hurt Guyana’s Tourism Market – Min. Ali

[www.inewsguyana.com] – The Tourism Ministry is not too happy with the decision of the United States Department of Transportation which denied Fly Jamaica and Caribbean Airlines permission to fly directly to New York.

Tourism Minister [ag], Irfaan Ali told iNews on Thursday October 3 that government will do all it can to fight the denial.

“The decision is one that does not fit into our business interest and it is something that I think we have to fight and respond as a country…you’re talking about a situation where there is no American Carrier in the market and Fly Jamaica will face a very burdensome position of flying through Jamaica,” Minister Ali said.

He further explained that the decision by the US will only add more cost to the operations of both airlines.

“We believe that there must be fair and open competition and if the fact remains that there is no American Carrier in the market then we view this as a regressive step.”

On October 1, the US rejected the application. According to the US, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) and Airlines for America (A4A) each filed consolidated objections to the applications of Fly Jamaica and CAL and asserted that the requests of Fly Jamaica and CAL are extra bilateral, and that the Department should deny the applications.

The documents revealed that Fly Jamaica filed their application on July 16, 2013, while CAL filed theirs just two days after [July 18, 2013]. In its application to the US, Fly Jamaica argued that the denial of its application would result in the continuation of anti-competitive conditions whereby CAL is the only carrier providing nonstop service in the New York (JFK)-Georgetown market.