AvA Airways (Dominican Republic) (Santo Domingo Las Américas) is planning to launch later this year, with flights from Santo Domingo to St. Maarten, Curaçao, Jamaica and the US. Flights will be aboard A320 aircraft, and closer destinations will be served with Dash 8-400 aircraft, reports the Curaçao Chronicle.
AvA's CEO, Olivier Arrindell, spoke in May with Alejandro Herrera, Director of the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation (IDAC), where he also outlined his plans to build an MRO facility in the country.
The new airline – which is owned by AvA Airways Inc – is backed by a USD65 million guarantee from US private equity firm Capital Partners. AvA Airways Inc's other airlines include AvA Airways (Curaçao) and AvA Airways (Sint Maarten), neither of which have yet launched.
The company ran into some issues with Curaçaoan authorities in 2016 when it failed to secure an economic permit. However, Arrindell is hopeful that the new Minister of Traffic, Transport and Urban Planning, Zita Jesus-Leito – who is in charge of the Curacao Civil Aviation Authority – will be more amenable to the airline.
