PHILIPSBURG/ Dominican Republic:--- PAWA Airlines who recently picked up the load left behind by Insel Air now have to face auditing which was requested by Aerodom Siglo XXI. The announcement was made on Friday. PAWA offers flights from the Dominican Republic to Miami, Puerto Rico, Haiti and Cuba, and other Caribbean islands. The Dominican Airport (Aerodom) announced on Friday that it will request local authorities to investigate the economic solvency of the airline PAWA Dominicana, which offers flights to Miami, Puerto Rico, Haiti and Cuba, and other Caribbean islands.
According to Aerodom, "PAWA owes today the sum of US $ 1,062,809.61 for airport services offered by our company at the Las Americas International Airport, Jose Francisco Peña Gómez (AILA-JFPG), such as parking, lighting, aircraft landing, use of bridges, common system check-in counters, departure rooms, office space, hangar, warehouse and electricity supply, airport tax per passenger, among others.
"After countless unsuccessful approaches and payment promises, Aerodom took legal action to recover the amounts owed that continue to increase each day, making Aerodom a forced subsidy donor of the airline, which is, in addition to being irregular, clearly unsustainable", assured the director of corporate communication for the company, Yolanda Mañán.
She also explained that "since the beginning of this year, PAWA has repeatedly delaying not only payments to Aerodom, but also to other airport service providers. This was brought to the attention of the authorities in the same way as other irregularities, as the clandestine food supply to aircrafts by personnel not accredited as a provider of these services. "
"Apparently this company does not have the capacity to cover its most basic and operational expenses, which, in fact, does constitute a risk to the security and efficiency in the provision of services to passengers," she said.
In the face of this "very serious" situation, Aerodom will formally request the local authorities to "assess the financial solvency of PAWA, a condition which, according to the Civil Aviation Act, must be permanently maintained in order to preserve the economical permit that allows the airline to carry passengers as a commercial airline, "concluded Mañán.
Likewise, Mañán described the statements issued Thursday by PAWA Dominicana spokesman Alexander Barrios as "false, irresponsible and technically inaccurate" statements. He reported that Aerodom had suspended electricity when one of its flights was in the air, putting at risk the life of the occupants of the aircraft.
"Any specialist can confirm that there is no possibility of jeopardizing the safety of an aircraft and passengers on board by suspending the power supply of an airline's offices," assured Yolanda Mañán, director of communications of Aerodom.
The incident occurred on June 30 at the Las Americas Airport, Santo Domingo.
What Aerodom has done, Mañán said, "is to exercise its powers, rights and prerogatives granted by the airport concession contract, reserving the right to provide services and facilities at the airport to a company, under certain conditions ".
Source : Aerodom July 7th 2017