US carrier American Airlines inaugural flight to Guyana touched down at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport  late Thursday night.

Amidst much pomp and ceremony, several government officials, including Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge, who is performing the duties of Prime Minister, Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson and Junior Minister of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson were among those in attendance to welcome the flight.

United States Ambassador to Guyana, Perry Holloway and top officials as well as American Airlines executives were on hand at the ceremony which went underway in the Departure Lounge of the CJIA minutes into Friday morning. Speaking to an audience in the departure lounge of the CJIA, Robert Wirick , Managing Director , International Government Affairs  at American Airlines told the audience that Guyana is the airline’s 19^th destination on the continent .

While commending the staff who played various roles in setting up operations here, said the airline is pleased to be of service to Guyana as he noted that the firm hopes to strengthen its presence in Guyana for many years to come.”We are committed to this market,” he said. Wirick told those in attendance that from Miami, the airline will be able to connect Guyanese to nearly 150 destinations including in the US and other countries. He said the service is the culmination of months of hard work as he commended government and the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority for facilitating its launch. He said that the airline strives to be the best each day and with each flight.

He said the government views the presence of one of the largest US airline companies in Guyana as “a very positive step “towards the development of air services on these shores.

Several passengers booked to travel out of Guyana were lounging at the departure lounge of the CJIA on Thursday night wore visible signs of excitement. So too was Director General of the GCAA, Lieutenant Colonel  Egbert Field. He told the audience that said that when the airline applied to GCAA to commence operations in December 2018, the aviation body informed of the ICAO Air Transport Meeting this month and requested if they can start their operations earlier. He said they made the adjustment willingly.

American Airlines will operate four flights each week between the CJIA and Miami using an Airbus 319 aircraft. Local company Roraima Airways is handling the ground operations on behalf of AA.