Cheddi Jagan International Airport , formerly Timehri International Airport, is the primary airport of

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

. The airport is located on the right bank of the

Demerara River The Demerara River is a river in eastern Guyana that rises in the central rainforests of the country and flows to the north for 346 kilometres until it reaches the Atlantic Ocean. Georgetown, Guyana's largest seaport and capital, is situated o ...

in the city of

Timehri Timehri is a village in Guyana located 41 kilometers to the south of the nation's capital Georgetown. The name "Timehri" is an Amerindian word meaning "paintings and drawings on the rock" It contains the Cheddi Jagan International Airport whic ...

, south of Guyana's capital, Georgetown. It is the larger of the two international airports serving Georgetown with the other airport being the

Eugene F. Correira International Airport Eugene F. Correia International Airport is located on the Atlantic Ocean coast of Guyana, east of the capital, Georgetown, in the Demerara-Mahaica region. In 2013, LIAT began scheduled passenger airline flights between the airport and Barbad ...

History

Arrivals - Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Guyana

The United States obtained rights to locate military facilities in British Guiana as part of the

Destroyers for Bases Agreement The destroyers-for-bases deal was an agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom on September 2, 1940, according to which 50 , , and US Navy destroyers were transferred to the Royal Navy from the US Navy in exchange for land rights ...

with the United Kingdom in 1941. On 14 June 1941, the first

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

forces arrived to survey land for a bomber airfield near Georgetown. Atkinson Field was built 28 miles (45 km) from Georgetown on of land formerly known as

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

, on the

. The forest was cleared and hills were levelled and a long concrete runway was constructed. On 20 June 1941, the airfield officially opened with the activation of a weather station. The station was named after Lieutenant Colonel Bert M. Atkinson, a

United States Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial war ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

aviator. Colonel Atkinson was the commander of the 1st Pursuit Wing on the western front in 1918. Colonel Atkinson retired from the Army in 1922 after a distinguished career and died on 27 April 1937. The mission of the station was the defense of the colony against German

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

s. The airfield was also a major staging point for American aircraft crossing the Atlantic Ocean heading to the European Theatre on the South Atlantic transport route. Aircraft supplied to the British forces by the United States were flown to Atkinson where they were turned over and ferried to North Africa. With the discovery of

bauxite Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...

deposits in northeast

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in 1943, the mission of the airfield was expanded to protect the coastline of northeast South America and prevent any submarine landings by Axis forces on the continent.

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

430th Bombardment Squadron The 44th Reconnaissance Squadron (44 RS) is a unit of the United States Air Force's 432nd Wing, Air Combat Command and stationed at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, where it operates unmanned aerial vehicles. The squadron is assigned to the 432n ...

9th Bombardment Group was assigned to Atkinson field from 4 November 1941 to 31 October 1942 flying anti-submarine sorties in

Douglas B-18 The Douglas B-18 Bolo is an American heavy bomber which served with the United States Army Air Corps and the Royal Canadian Air Force (as the Digby) during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company f ...

bombers. The 430th was replaced by a detachment of the

35th Bombardment Squadron The 35th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was activated in January 1940 as the United States built up its armed forces prior to World War II. In the fall of 1941, it deployed to the Caribbean and, following ...

(25th Bombardment Group) from 1 November 1942 to 7 October 1943. After the detection of U-boat activity was taken over by the United States Navy, the

91st Reconnaissance Squadron The 91st Cyberspace Operations Squadron is an active United States Air Force unit, currently assigned to the 67th Cyberspace Wing at Kelly Annex, part of Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. The 91st delivers cyber warfare capabilities to combatant ...

(344th Reconnaissance Group) was assigned to the airfield during 1944 and 1945 flying the F-10 photo-recon version of the

B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...

bomber on various mapping missions. At the end of the war, Atkinson Field was reduced in scope to a skeleton staff. The facility was opened for all air travel, including commercial air flights on 1 October 1946. The same year,

British West Indian Airways BWIA West Indies Airways Limited, known locally as "Bee-Wee" and also as British West Indian Airways and BWIA International, was the national airline based in Trinidad and Tobago. At the end of operations, BWIA was the largest airline operating o ...

(

BWIA BWIA West Indies Airways Limited, known locally as "Bee-Wee" and also as British West Indian Airways and BWIA International, was the national airline based in Trinidad and Tobago. At the end of operations, BWIA was the largest airline operating o ...

, now Caribbean Airlines) was operating nonstop passenger service to

Port of Spain, Trinidad Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

. The military airfield was designated Atkinson Air Force Base on 26 March 1948 by Department of the Air Force General Order Number 10. The base was ordered closed on 31 July 1949 due to budgetary cutbacks. The final military cadre was 3 officers and 25 enlisted men upon closure, and the base was officially turned over to British authorities on 1 August 1949. A modern terminal building was built and opened on 15 March 1952. When the new building was ravaged by fire on 5 August 1959 the old terminal building was renovated and used again until the destroyed building was replaced. The airport had jet service in 1961 when

Pan American World Airways Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

(

Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

) was operating

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20, ...

flights with a weekly round trip routing of

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's ...

- Georgetown -

Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

.http://www.timetableimages.com, Aug. 1, 1961 Pan American World Airways system timetable At this same time, Pan Am was also operating weekly Douglas DC-6 propliner service on a routing of

Belém Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará) often called Belém of Pará, is a Brazilian city, capital and largest city of the state of Pará in t ...

Cayenne Cayenne (; ; gcr, Kayenn) is the capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic Oc ...

- Paramaribo - Georgetown - Port of Spain -

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

- Curacao -

Port Au Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is defin ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. Also in 1961,

(

) was operating all flights from the airport with

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. The Visc ...

turboprop aircraft with nonstop service to Port of Spain with direct one stop service to Barbados. BWIA then introduced jet service with

Boeing 727-100 The Boeing 727 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy Boeing 707, 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter f ...

aircraft during the mid 1960s and by 1966 was operating all of its passenger service into the airport with the 727 on nonstop flights to Port of Spain and also to Paramaribo in addition to all-cargo flights nonstop to Port of Spain and direct to Miami operated with

Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960s ...

prop aircraft. The lease of the facility by the United States was formally terminated on 26 May 1966 (Guyana's Independence Day). Because the lease was terminated 74 years before its end date, a new agreement was reached giving certain specified rights to the United States in relation to the air base for the next 17 years. In 1965 and 1968 additions were made to the airport facilities. Also in 1968,

(

) was operating direct, no change of plane

jet service to

via JFK Airport via intermediate stops in Port of Spain and Barbados. On 1 May 1969, the Atkinson Aerodrome was renamed the Timehri International Airport – "

" is a Carib word for rock motifs located deep in the Guyana

hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated ...

that pre-date the arrival of Europeans in the New World. The airport featured murals employing Amerindian motifs by Guyanese painter

Aubrey Williams Aubrey Williams (8 May 1926 – 17 April 1990) was a Guyanese artist. He was best known for his large, oil-on-canvas paintings, which combine elements of abstract expressionism with forms, images and symbols inspired by the pre-Columbian art o ...

. In 1971, BWIA was operating daily nonstop service to Port of Spain from the airport with

jetliners. By 1973,

ALM Antillean Airlines ALM Antillean Airlines ( nl, Antilliaanse Luchtvaart Maatschappij) was the main airline of the Netherlands Antilles between its foundation in 1964 and its shut-down in 2001, operating out of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao. History ALM Antillean ...

was operating Douglas DC-9 jet service on a routing of Paramaribo - Georgetown - Port of Spain - Curacao - Kingston - Miami three times a week according to the Official Airline Guide (OAG).

Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global air ...

was serving the airport in 1977 with round trip service flown twice weekly on a Pointe-a-Pitre - Fort-de-France - Port of Spain - Georgetown - Paramaribo - Cayenne routing operated with a Boeing 737-200.

(

) was serving the airport in 1980 with daily one stop

jet service to New York JFK Airport via an intermediate stop in Port of Spain. In 1981, Guy-America Airways was operating nonstop

jet service between New York JFK Airport and Guyana three days a week. In 1983, according to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), four airlines were operating scheduled passenger air service at the airport:

Arrow Air Arrow Air was a passenger and cargo airline based in Building 712 on the grounds of Miami International Airport (MIA) in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida. At different times over the years, it operated over 90 weekly schedul ...

British West Indies Airways BWIA West Indies Airways Limited, known locally as "Bee-Wee" and also as British West Indian Airways and BWIA International, was the national airline based in Trinidad and Tobago. At the end of operations, BWIA was the largest airline operating o ...

(

, formerly

) and

Guyana Airways Guyana Airways was the flag carrier of Guyana. It was an important link for the Guyanese community as it provided a way into and out of the country. During its operations, Guyana Airways operated services to destinations in the Caribbean, the U ...

. At this time, ALM was operating

McDonnell Douglas MD-80 The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second gene ...

jet service nonstop to

, with one stop direct MD-80 flights to Curacao, U.S.-based Arrow Air was flying nonstop

jet service to JFK Airport in

, BWIA was operating nonstop McDonnell Douglas DC-9-50 jet flights to Port of Spain and locally based Guyana Airways was flying Boeing 707 nonstop service to

, New York JFK Airport,

Paramaribo, Suriname Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's po ...

and Port of Spain. The OAG also lists local and regional flights operated by Guyana Airways with

Hawker Siddeley 748 The Hawker Siddeley HS 748 is a medium-sized turboprop airliner originally designed and initially produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Avro. It was the last aircraft to be developed by Avro prior to its absorption by Hawker Siddeley. ...

and

de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restarted ...

turboprop aircraft at this time. Guyana Airways had earlier operated Boeing 737-200 jet service from the airport in 1981 with nonstop flights to Barbados, Miami, Paramaribo and Port of Spain. By 1989, two airlines were operating nonstop flights between the airport and New York JFK: Guyana Airways with three

flights a week and

Tropical Airways Tropical Airways was a small airline with scheduled and charter services based in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Services As of February 2005, Tropical Airways operated the following services: *Domestic scheduled destinations: Port-au-Prince to Cap-Ha ...

flying stretched Super Douglas DC-8 jets twice a week. In 1993, Guyana Airways was operating nonstop Boeing 757-200 flights from GEO to New York JFK Airport three days a week while BWIA and

Leisure Air Leisure Air was an American airline based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Beginning as a charter airline, the company expanded to offer scheduled service to major cities as a discount carrier. It operated from 1992 until 1995, when it filed f ...

were operating direct one stop flights from New York JFK Airport, BWIA with

jets five days a week via an intermediate stop in

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

and Leisure Air with

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air F ...

jets once a week via an intermediate stop in

St. Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerin ...

. In 1995 Barbados-based Carib Express was operating

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...

BAe 146 The British Aerospace 146 (also BAe 146) is a short-haul and regional airliner that was manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2001. Manufacture by Avro International ...

-100 jet service to destinations in the Caribbean. In March 1997, following the death of President Dr. Cheddi Jagan, then-President Samuel Hinds decided to rename the airport the Cheddi Jagan International Airport. The proposition to rename the airport was proposed in the Parliament (National Assembly) by the Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Vibert De Souza, who noted that it would be a fitting tribute to a man who had spent his life committed to the betterment of Amerindian people and fighting for the freedom and unity of all Guyanese. A plaque bearing the new name was unveiled on 21 May 1997 by the Prime Minister, Janet Jagan. The Cheddi Jagan International Airport underwent a 150 million dollar modernization and expansion. The runway was extended to about 10,500 feet and the expansion provided a new arrivals terminal building with eight boarding bridges, elevators and CCTV. This was completed in December 2018. However, the check-in facility opened at the same time.

Facilities

The airport sits at an elevation of above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. ...

. It has two

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

paved

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

s: 06/24 measuring and 11/29 measuring . The terminal has six ground level gates and four boarding bridges.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Accidents and incidents

*On 30 July 2011,

Caribbean Airlines Flight 523 Caribbean Airlines Flight 523 was a passenger flight that overran the runway at Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Georgetown, Guyana, on 30 July 2011. Seven of the 163 aboard suffered injuries. The aircraft involved, a Boeing 737-800, was op ...

overran a runway in rainy weather while landing at Cheddi Jagan International Airport and went through a chain-link perimeter fence. The aircraft, a Boeing 737-800, broke in two just behind the first class cabin. There were no fatalities, although at least two passengers suffered broken legs and many others suffered lacerations and other injuries. Caribbean Airlines confirmed that 157 passengers and 6 crew members were on board the aircraft at the time. *On 9 November 2018,

Fly Jamaica Airways Flight 256 Fly Jamaica Airways Flight 256 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Cheddi Jagan International Airport in Guyana to Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada. The Boeing 757 aircraft serving the flight suffered a technical ...

, bound for

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, overshot the runway when making an emergency landing for technical issues in the

Boeing 757 The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the 727 (a trijet), received its first orders in August 1978. The prototype completed its mai ...

's hydraulics. This caused significant damage to the aircraft and one passenger fatality. The airliner involved, B757-200 registration N524AT was deemed beyond economical repair and written-off.

References

External links

Cheddi Jagan International Airport
official site * * {{authority control Airports in Guyana Airports established in 1941 Demerara-Mahaica Destroyers for Bases Agreement airfields Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command on the South Atlantic Route Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces 1941 establishments in British Guiana World War II sites in British Guiana