RORAIMA AIRWAYS
THE
NEXT DUBAI Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Captain Gerry Gouveia, CEO of Roraima Airways, about new opportunities in Guyana, protecting the environment, and training the next generation of leaders.
In 1992, an ex-Guyanese Army pilot and his wife set up a small business flying tourists and investors around Guyana in rented aircraft. Today, Roraima Airways, based out of Cheddi Jagan International Airport, owns a fleet of five Britten-Norman Islanders and Trislanders, as well as restaurants, hotels, a travel agency, and a full-fledged eco-resort in the rainforest. “It’s our twenty-fifth anniversary this year,” says Captain Gerry Gouveia, CEO of Roraima Airways. “We’ve recently expanded our operations 14 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
into aircraft maintenance, as well as growing our fleet, building our new conference facility, and our new partnership with Aruba Airlines. Then there’s the work we’ve been doing with Exxon Mobil, who have been conducting oil exploration off the shores of Guyana. So we have a lot to talk about!” In 2016, last time Sustainable Business Magazine spoke to Roraima Airways, business was booming as international companies looked at mining and investment opportunities in Guyana. Tourists were dis-
covering the beauty of Guyana’s rainforest, waterfalls, and biodiverse plant and animal life. At the same time, with a significant population in the hinterlands and deep within the Amazon, Captain Gouveia’s fleet of planes were needed more than ever, for vital medevac flights connecting these rural populations to the regional and national hospitals. (See Sustainable Business Magazine issue 4/16 for the full feature.) Again, this year, when Sustainable Business Magazine spoke to Captain Gouveia, he