PHILIPSBURG — The seemingly bitter fight between the civil aviation authorities in the Dominican Republic and St. Maarten has fizzled before it even started. Winair can continue offering flights on this route, but in the meantime it will have to obtain an operating license in the Dominican Republic.
The dispute began when the Junta Aviacion Civil (JAC) informed St. Maarten that Winair would no longer be allowed to offer services on the route between the two destinations. Louis Halley, head of the St. Maarten civil aviation authority retaliated on August 1 by threatening to ban flights from the Dominican Republic by August 5.
Minister Omar Ottley (Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication) intervened by calling an urgent meeting to solve the situation a day later. Halley’s letter was withdrawn and the Dominican Republic airlines are allowed to continue services until August 31.
By then the airline must have obtained an operating permit.
Winair is also the subject of a court case filed in Curacao by competitor EZ Air. This company wants Winair to stop flying from Curacao to Aruba and Bonaire, arguing that the airline only has a permit to fly to Curacao and not from Curacao to nearby islands.
EZ Air attorney Arndt van Hoof notes that Winair uses ATRs from Air Antilles through a wetlease-construction (whereby it rents planes and crew).
Aviation insiders note that Winair has been “skirting the rules a bit” with this wetlease-agreement. The rule is that airlines are allowed to use foreign aircraft for 24 months on a route, but Winair had used the wetlease-agreement with Air Antilles for nine years.
“The fact of the matter remains,” insiders observe, “that Winair must eventually get its own aircraft to operate on these routes.”
This applies not only to the Dominican Republic route, but also to services offered from Curacao to Aruba and Bonaire.
That would put an end to a rather awkward situation. Currently, Air Antilles is selling tickets on both routes using its own call sign and airline code, though technically these are Winair-flights. Revenue from tickets sales goes directly to Air Antilles. “Maybe this is a way for Air Antilles to guarantee payments given Winair’s precarious financial position.”
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