United States based carrier, Delta Airlines officially ended its Guyana service on Monday, bringing an end to five years of scheduled service between Georgetown and New York by the airline.

The airline announced a few months back that it would have been wrapping up its Guyana operations to focus on other business deals. The airline has been spreading its wings to more lucrative destinations. With Delta becoming the latest airline to leave the Guyana skies, Caribbean Airlines is now the only carrier with flights between Georgetown and New York which has a very large Guyanese population. Suriname Airways operates flights between Georgetown and Miami.

Tourism Minister Irfaan Ali has said that the Delta move was one that caught the Government by surprise and they made several efforts to convince the carrier to stay. Those efforts all failed.

The Guyana Government now intends to partner with the private sector and put together a team that will travel to the United States to meet with executives of major US Carriers in an effort to convince them to join the Guyana market.

Though the Government said Delta was doing well with its passenger load, sources close to the airline have pointed out that the carrier only did well during the peak seasons and its business class seats were most times never sold out. That capacity concern, coupled with the drug trafficking problem that has plagued several airlines flying out of Guyana may have forced the carrier to find an alternative route.

A number of local staff members will lose their jobs and several companies that contracted various services to the airline will also take a big hit as a result of the pull out.

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