JetAir Caribbean almost ready to fly

PHILIPSBURG — Insel Air may be bankrupt but its successor is almost ready to take to the skies. JetAir Caribbean a company owned by Antonio Ribeiro (Tony), who with his CEO Robert Maas, has already brought the first Fokker-70 plane to Hato airport in Curacao. A second plane, that will mainly function as a backup to safeguard on-time performance will follow in April.

For now, JetAir Caribbean keeps the lid on the exact destinations it will service, but according to the Antilliaans Dagblad the focus will be on mid-range distant flights to places like Trinidad, Jamaica, Haiti and Medellin in Colombia. Flights to St. Maarten, Bonaire and Aruba are not an immediate priority, the paper wrote, because these destinations are already served by other airlines like Divi Divi Air, EZ Air, Aruba Airlines and Winair.

The Antilliaans Dagblad reported that JetAir will use the license of United Caribbean Airlines. This is an already existing company, JetAir said in a press statement. The new airline is awaiting an Air Operating Certificate (AOC) from the Curacao Civilian Aviation Authority (CCAA). The procedure to obtain this certificate started in October of last year. JetAir expects to receive the necessary paperwork in April.

JetAir’s Fokker 70 was previously used as a Cityhopper by Dutch airline KLM; it has 80 passenger seats. Ticket sales will begin as soon as there is clarity about the issuance of the Air Operating Certificate by the authorities in Curacao.