The US Embassy in Guyana warned Sunday that it had received “unconfirmed threat information” about a regional airlines’ flights from the South American country to the United States. The terse message about flights of Caribbean Airlines was unusual for being so specific about a potential threat.
Caribbean Airlines has stated that they would “work closely” with all authorities after the United States Embassy in Guyana warned Americans against travelling on the airline because of “unconfirmed threat information” relating to its flights destined for the United States.
“Caribbean Airlines would like to advise the travelling public that we are working closely with all authorities to ensure that security protocols are followed,’ CAL head of Corporate Communications, Clint Williams, said in a brief statement.
“All Caribbean Airlines flights will operate as scheduled and we thank the travelling public for their understanding for any inconvenience at this time and special security measure will be put in place at this period,” he added.
“As the Guyana Association members celebrated their Association’s 10 year anniversary in Orlando with a Thanksgiving service today, no one knew of the serious security issues facing travellers in and out of Guyana, our thoughts and prayers are focused on Guyana tonight and we urge everyone to be vigilant and on the highest alert” said Sam Roberts, President of the Guyanese American Cultural Association in Orlando and the owner of the local marketing firm that manages the Caribbean Airlines marketing in the Central Florida area. “This is of particular interest to us in Orlando as Caribbean Airlines flies into this market, so we are thoughtful and paying rapt attention at this time as it could impact us on so many levels.”
Guenet Gittens-Roberts, President of the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce of Florida and Publisher of Caribbean American Passport told us that “this issue is a threat to the Caribbean Community across the region due to the nature of the flight patterns, as a threat could originate in Guyana, but since that flight stops in many destinations on the way to the final airport, it’s hard to say which stop should be concerned. For example the flight from Guyana to Orlando, stops in both Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica before flying into MCO. Every destination be it London, Canada, New York, Miami and Ft. Lauderdale face similar issues. This issue is of grave concern to the Caribbean as a whole.”
Recent Census Numbers put the Foreign Born Caribbean Population in Florida at 1,394,863, this large community is impacted by issues that arise in the Caribbean. In the Summer of 2012 Caribbean Airlines launched their non-stop flights from Trinidad and Jamaica in to Orlando also with connections from Guyana coming directly in the Orlando International Airport; these flights have become a regular addition to the Caribbean Airlines flight schedule.
Caribbean Community leaders issued a call for travelers to be diligent and cautious when travelling. For the Guyanese community Caribbean Airlines is one of the main connections between Florida and Guyana. In 2012 when Delta Airlines stopped flights into Guyana, Guyanese were forced to depend even greater on the flights provided by Caribbean Airlines; any cancellation in the Caribbean Airlines flights could be devastating for both the Guyana business traveler and vacationers traveling between Florida and Guyana.
