Insel Air takes government to court because of MD-83 DAE

December 20, 2011 4:37 PM

With the arrival of the MD-83 aircraft of the American company Falcon Airline for DAE, Insel Air feel they are deprived of their rights and have instituted summary proceedings against the government.

With this, the company demands clarity whether the laws and rules have changed since 2006 when Insel Air was not allowed to deploy a foreign company for route expansion.According to Insel Air, the government is actively involved in distortion of competition, not only by recently giving DAE approximately 15 million guilders but also by offering an American airline company (Falcon Airline) the opportunity to compete with Insel Air on routes they are not entitled to. On the other hand, Insel Air is to fulfill all obligations in the United States and there’s a fair chance Insel Air will also have less possibilities due to the possible downgrading of the aviation service of Curaçao.
 
“Falcon Air is a charter company that is not allowed to perform regular flights in the US – in conformity with their American permit – but the company will now be performing regular flights via Curaçao. The aircraft that they will use here operates under a Falcon Air flight code with American stewardesses, pilots and mechanics. There is no Curaçao involvement at all. The owner of Falcon Air is Venezuelan Nelson Ramiz, whom DAE had recently engaged as consultant,” says Insel Air. They further state it’s unclear who the supporters of DAE are.

“In any case, it seems the government has an interest in DAE because they recently invested almost 15 million guilders from the Curaçao people in DAE.” Insel Air also mentions they had intended to deploy an aircraft of the Surinamese Aviation Company SLM) in 2006 to expand the routes, but contrary to DAE, Insel Air would deploy Insel Air pilots and stewardesses. In first instance, the government had accepted this but DAE had challenged this with success. The judge ruled that local airline companies only need a permit to operate aircrafts under own control.

Therefore, the then minister of Aviation Kenneth Gijsbertha (MAN) had had to issue guidelines that expansion of routes with foreign companies was not legal and the aviation service informed Insel Air they had to use an own aircraft for this expansion. In December 2006, Insel Air came with their first jet after having complied with all certification requirements for crew and aircraft.

Insel Air state they recently purchased new aircrafts and invested millions in spare parts, manuals and procedures, employing and training local personnel to expand the routes.

(Source: National Newspaper Amigoe)

13 December 2011