Airports reopen to commercial flights

12 Oct 2020 / Guyana

Guyana’s Eugene F. Correia and the Cheddi Jagan International Airports reopen to commercial flights today (12 October). All passengers will be required to present a negative COVID-19 PCR test on arrival which was taken at least seven days prior to travel but only those with results less than three days old will bypass a second test at the airport.

Swabbing will be done at the airports while the PCR tests passengers arrive with will be validated by local authorities to ensure authenticity.

The following previously announced measures will still be enforced:

  • Passengers can be fined between $50,000 to $3M (Guyana Dollars) and jailed for five years if they breach the COVID-19 regulations stipulated by the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).
  • All passengers required to wear a mask at the airports and throughout their flights except for identification by law enforcement officials.
  • Passengers required to replace masks which have become wet or soiled and those who do not adhere to safety requirements will be refused access to the airport or aircraft or be removed therefrom. Recommended masks when flying are N95, KN95 and FFP2.
  • If a person acts out in a manner “endangers an aircraft or any person in an aircraft commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of G$3,000,000 and to imprisonment for five years.”
  • If a passenger interferes with the discharge of a crew member’s functions, they are liable on summary conviction to a fine of G$1M and to imprisonment for two years.
  • A $1M fine is also attached threatening words at an airport or in an aircraft and disobeying orders from a pilot or crew member along with three-months imprisonment.
  • Passengers will be disinfected on the terminal and present their results along with their “Emergency Disease Screening Tool” forms which they will fill out onboard the aircraft.
  • According to the regulations, “passengers presenting or submitting a false or ‘non-factual’ molecular biological PCR test to the aircraft operator and to Port Health shall be liable to pay a fine of not more than G$250,000 upon summary conviction.”
  • Passengers’ temperatures will also be checked at the airport and anyone with a temperature above 37.5C (99.5F) or who appears ill or displays some symptoms of COVID-19 shall be further evaluated and possibly quarantined while contact tracing will be done to determine others who sat close to the person.

For further details and updates, as well as information about operations in Guyana, contact GAC Guyana at [email protected]

If quoting any content from Hot Port News, please cite GAC Hot Port News as the source.