Guyana's airline operators have grown from six to 22 and its served destinations have likewise risen from six to 22, President Dr. Irfaan Ali disclosed on Tuesday as he announced the country's bid to become a global aviation training hub.

Speaking at the opening of the ICAO/EASA Third Global RSOO and RAIO Forum on Aviation Safety, Ali said the government is seeking an international partner to build a comprehensive aviation training ecosystem covering safety, security, aircraft maintenance and pilot training.

"We want to position Guyana as a human resource training and development hub for aviation globally," the President said.

Weekly seats have more than doubled over the past five years, Ali said. International and domestic passenger traffic, international flights, overflights and offshore flights have all recorded significant increases over the same period.

Why does Guyana want a training partner now?

The push rests on a global mismatch between demand for skilled aviation personnel and available supply, Ali said, identifying aviation and healthcare as the two sectors where labour shortages are most evident.

"We have to have a comprehensive gap analysis within the region and globally, and to see how we position our markets to meet that gap," he said.

The government plans to fund training infrastructure itself but wants a partner to develop programmes covering "every aspect of aviation."

"We want to build in our education, development, and aviation hub here that deals with training comprehensively, and we are going to put the infrastructure in, but we are looking for that international partner," Ali said.

No partner, timeline or budget for the training hub was named at the forum.

What are the safety implications?

Ali tied the personnel shortage directly to aviation safety. Insufficient pilot numbers, he warned, drive higher utilisation of existing crews and aircraft, cutting into required rest periods.

"If we don't have enough pilots, and pilots are not having the required rest, if we don't have enough assets, and assets are stretched in terms of utilisation, all of this has an impact on safety," the President said.

He argued that growth in traffic and operators must be matched by investment in human resources, regulatory capacity and safety oversight — a positioning that aligns with the agenda of the ICAO/EASA forum itself, which gathers regional safety oversight organisations and regional aviation safety agreements.

What is the strategic ambition?

Ali framed the initiative as more than domestic capacity building. Guyana, he said, aims to supply skills and expertise to the wider international industry, not simply to staff its own rapidly expanding market.

"We want to find a way in which we can build this ecosystem with an international partner, and I'm looking for ideas. We're looking for those who are ready to journey with us," the President said.

The country's rapid traffic growth — driven in part by its broader economic expansion — gives Georgetown both the demand base and the political backing to pitch itself as a Caribbean training centre. Whether an international partner signs on, and on what terms, will determine whether the hub moves from presidential ambition to operational training capacity.