Not desirable
News that Winair will be included in the division of assets and liabilities of the Netherlands Antilles (see Monday paper) will not have been well-received in the Windward Islands, particularly St. Eustatius and Saba. After all, the Central Government-owned airline can be considerer a lifeline for those two islands, which depend on it to a large extent for their airlift, while Curaçao and Bonaire have no real interest in Winair, simply because it does not fly there.
That’s also why the plans for the Windward Islands to take over the airline ahead of the dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles made all the sense in the world, but up to now they have not been executed. There are several reasons, including 1.4 million guilders that must be repaid to Bonaire Participatie Maatschappij, which invested that amount in Winair without receiving the corresponding shares in the company.
Another issue is the extension of the lease for the land Winair now occupies at Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA). The Island Government is hesitant about extending that lease because it is a strategic location also in connection with further airport expansion plans, while there may also be legal implications should Winair indeed be included in the division of assets.
Hopefully, it will not come to that. St. Maarten has a vested interest in the airline as well, in terms of employment and when it comes to connecting flights to other destinations such as St. Barths that help make PJIA a regional hub. The importance of the latter in maintaining the competitive edge “The Friendly Island” enjoys should not be underestimated.
On the other hand, a court case by Winair against St. Maarten to demand extension of the lease is hardly a desirable scenario. After all, the idea was for that same island territory to take over the airline together with Saba and Statia.
Commissioner Marlin had announced a possible solution, where Domain Affairs could transfer the land rights to PJIA, which could then in turn make it available for Winair, but keeping in line with the future development plans for the airport. What this means in terms of Winair being able to use the lease as collateral for financing remains to be seen, but at least it’s an effort to break the current deadlock.
And that should certainly be possible, if the parties involved are indeed serious about their conviction that the airline is important to the Windward Islands and should be transferred to them. The suspended negotiations in this respect should be resumed as soon as possible with the firm resolve on all sides to arrive at an acceptable solution.
Give us your opinion on this story ![[new]](/images/new.gif)
Post a message on our message board! Click Here!
