President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday unveiled preliminary discussions with Chinese companies on building a new airport in Guyana as the country looks to secure a national flag carrier.“If we’re going to make Guyana a hub we need at least bridges and currently we can only accommodate three or four aircraft standing on the tarmac at the same time,” Jagdeo said of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.Meanwhile,Adoree Jackson USC Jersey, he said that the prospect of Guyana buying cheap aviation fuel from Venezuela could boost prospects for the country having a national flag carrier once again. He said the price of aviation fuel in Guyana is twice as much as what is paid at JFK airport in New York.“If they have to refuel here, they simply cannot be competitive with the other airlines,Quincy Wilson Youth Jersey,” he stated.He said a new airport and a national flag carrier would make Guyana more attractive for tourism. According to Jagdeo,Cordrea Tankersley Jersey, there has been “an explosion” of Guyanese coming home and other people travelling here. He added that despite the fact that airlines have increased flights to Guyana, it is still “impossible to get flights in for August.”In early March, Jagdeo first announced that his government has not ruled out getting back into the airline business. The announcement came as the government lashed out at what Jagdeo called “unconscionable” fare increases by Caribbean Airlines.Caribbean Airlines is the main regional and international carrier out of Guyana,Marc-Andre Ter Stegen Jersey, but it is the fare to destinations in the Caribbean, mainly Trinidad and Barbados,ArDarius Stewart Jets Jersey, that the government is mostly outraged about.Jagdeo had said that what Guyanese are being asked to pay to go to Trinidad and Barbados is sometimes more than what it costs from these destinations to go to the United States.Caribbean Airlines,Malik McDowell Seahawks Jersey, Jagdeo had noted, has argued that their fares are lower to the US because of the competition in these islands for flights to the United States.If that is the case, the President had said, the Guyana Government could operate a service to Trinidad and Barbados.The government was once engaged in the airline business, but when leasing one aircraft and employing 500 workers with a US$10 million subsidy was no longer feasible, the airline was closed.