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Talk to Stanford about Winair, Gumbs suggests
by The Daily Herald
Posted: Nov 9, 2005 14:25 UTC
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PHILIPSBURG - St. Maarten Democratic Party (DP) Member of Parliament Marcel Gumbs suggested to Shareholder representative of Windward Islands Airways International Winair State Secretary Erno Labega on Tuesday that he talk to the Stanford Group, which owns Caribbean Star/Sun.
During a meeting of Parliament in Bonaire, Gumbs voiced his concerns about reports in the local media that Caribbean Star wanted to include Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao in its plans to expand its routes.
Caribbean Star Manager Frankie François announced in the Curaçao daily Antilliaans Dagblad that there were plans for three new routes in the course of next year. To make this possible, the airline will replace three aircraft by purchasing three Havilland Dash 8-300 aircraft for a total US $40 million.
François said he would announce details at a later stage. He said the airline was also interested in adding Jamaica and Martinique to the itinerary. Caribbean Star now serves 14 destinations: home base Antigua, Anguilla, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent, Tortola and Trinidad.
Gumbs: “I advised Labega to call the Stanford Group. They are interested in the islands and things look pretty dark for Winair. I am worried about Winair’s survivability. If Caribbean Sun can challenge American Eagle on the route San Juan-St. Maarten, imagine what they could do to a small airline like Winair.”
According to Gumbs, considering the short time available with Winair in financial trouble and in the interest of the workers, Labega as the shareholder’s representative of the federally-owned company should talk to Caribbean Star/Sun. Caribbean Sun is opening the route San Juan-St. Eustatius November 15.
Gumbs also addressed the issue of the guarantee of flights between the islands during Tuesday’s meeting, in the light of last month’s decision of the Council of Ministers to transfer its Winair shares to St. Maarten. The Islands Regulation ERNA, article 2, states that “communications between the islands” is not an affair of the island territories. The Central Government guarantees the communications.
Gumbs questioned the added responsibility for St. Maarten to guarantee flights to Saba and St. Eustatius that would come with the shares. He stressed, “Winair should not become someone’s private mental toy.”
About the meeting with Labega Tuesday afternoon, Gumbs said Parliament had had a “very healthy discussion” with the state secretary.
Labega stated in response: “We had a very fruitful discussion. They asked me various questions on the progress to privatise the company. I updated them. There were some suggestions and things that I will look at.”
Labega explained that four or five possible investors were interested in Winair. “They have been interested in the past and they are still interested, including Caribbean Star. If Caribbean Star is open for discussions, we will talk to them. By deciding to transfer the shares to St. Maarten and stopping negotiations with Exel, the door is now open to talk to other investors,” he said.
As for the responsibility of guaranteeing flights, Labega explained that based on the ERNA that responsibility of the Central Government remained. “The deal with transferring it to St. Maarten is that the island could guarantee that flights between the three Windward Islands would continue. But it doesn’t take away the ultimate responsibility of the Central Government. The idea is that flights are secured,” he said.
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