“All flights back to normal” – GCAA Head after disruptions caused by US strikes in Venezuela

Following the disruptions to several flights around the region on Saturday after the United States (US) conducted a “large-scale” attack in Caracas to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, flight operations in Guyana have returned to normalcy.

This is according to the Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Lt. Col. (Ret’d) Egbert Field. “All flights are back to normal. As of [Sunday], all flights will be coming in,” Field told this publication on Sunday.

According to the GCAA Head, approximately three flights were affected. These flights were operated by JetBlue Airways and United Airlines – both to and from the US – as well as KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, which flies to Amsterdam in the Netherlands with a connection in the Caribbean. While these flights were cancelled, Field explained that some flights operated by American Airlines merely experienced extended delays.

Nevertheless, the Director General assured that systems have been put in place for those passengers affected by Saturday’s flight disruptions.

“Extra flights will be put on for the passengers who were disrupted [on Saturday]. I can’t say how many at the moment… But I know that one or two airlines have put on extra flights to accommodate [affected] passengers,” Field stated.

All the affected flights were scheduled to either land at or take off from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) in Timehri, and according to the GCAA Head, there were no disruptions to domestic flights that largely operate from the Eugene F. Correia International Airport at Ogle, East Coast Demerara (ECD).

“But all flights are operative, and we are back to normal operation as of today (Sunday). And there were no disruptions with the domestic operation,” the Director General noted.

In the wee hours of Saturday, the United States (US) military conducted several strikes in neighbouring Venezuela as part of a daring operation that saw them capturing Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their home on a military base in downtown Caracas and transporting them to New York to face indictments on multiple criminal charges, including “narco-terrorism”.

Due to the US military operation, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had implemented airspace restrictions for US-operated airlines in the region, affecting many Caribbean destinations, including Guyana. Those restrictions, however, were lifted on Sunday.