Georgetown: Guyana participated in the twelfth International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Air Services Negotiation Event (ICAN2019) which was held in Aqaba, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from 2nd to 6th December 2019.
The objective of ICAO Air Services Negotiation Event is to provide states with a central meeting place to conduct bilateral (regional or plurilateral) air services negotiations and consultations with other member states of ICAO.
Sixty-one member states of ICAO participated in ICAN 2019 from five ICAO regions of the world – Africa; Americas; Asia and Asia Pacific; Middle East and Europe. The meeting was also attended by International Organizations and Institutions: International Air Transport Organization (IATA); Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO); African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC); The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA); Arab Air Carriers’ Organization (AAC) and International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).
Guyana’s delegation was led by Lt. Col. (Ret’d) Egbert Field, Director General, Guyana Civil Aviation Authority and supported by Mr. Saheed Sulaman, Director, Air Transport Management, Guyana Civil Aviation Authority and Ms. Oneka Archer-Caulder, Director Legal and Treaties Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Guyana as a matter of policy, negotiates open skies (liberal) Air Services Agreements, granting up to fifth freedom traffic rights for passenger traffic and up to seventh freedom for all-cargo traffic.
At the meeting, Guyana held twenty-four (24) meetings with eighteen (18) countries: Senegal, The Bahamas, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Seychelles, Paraguay, Bangladesh, Greece, Rwanda, United States, Thailand, Spain, Ethiopia, Jamaica, Austria, Sierra Leone and Belgium. From these meetings, Guyana was able to conclude negotiation of Air Services Agreements with eight (8) countries: 1) Senegal; 2) Seychelles; 3) The Bahamas; 4) Paraguay; 5) Saudi Arabia; 6) Germany; 7) Greece and 8) Spain.
Negotiations were initiated with six (6) countries: 1) Ethiopia; 2) Jamaica; 3) Bangladesh; 4) Austria; 5) Thailand and 6) Belgium and continued with Sierra Leone whom Guyana met at ICAN 2018 in Kenya.
The eight Air Services Agreements were initialed and Memoranda of Understanding signed with these countries at the technical level pending signature at the ministerial level. These Air Services Agreements initialed and Memoranda of Understanding signed are provisionally applicable until the Air Services Agreements are signed by both parties and enters into force. This means that the negotiated agreements are immediately applicable for traffic rights between Guyana and these countries.
An Air Services Agreement (ASA) is an instrument used by states to jointly regulate, facilitate and promote their international air services relationships for their airlines. Air Services Agreements govern traffic rights for international air services among airlines between two countries. These agreements are necessary for the development of a state’s international air transport network as it create the infrastructure that allow airlines of one state to access new markets and develop their network. The benefits of such connectivity include trade, global inclusivity, economic development, tourism growth, inter alia.
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