A WINAIR Twin Otter approaching St. Maarten Airport. (Suzanne Koelega photo)
THE HAGUE--Windward Islands Airways International WINAIR started in October this year to repay the US $3 million mortgage loan that it obtained from the Dutch government during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management Mark Harbers stated this in an aviation update letter which he sent to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament. The letter contained a few paragraphs on the Caribbean Netherlands and connectivity between the islands.
The minister confirmed that WINAIR in October 2022 started to repay the loan in 15 months, including the interest of 4.41% per year. “This means that the loan will be repaid within the set term,” Harbers stated.
On December 31, 2020, Harbers’ predecessor, Cora van Nieuwenhuizen Wijbenga, informed the Second Chamber that the Dutch government decided to respond positively to a request of St. Maarten Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs to give WINAIR a much-needed loan.
In the early part of the pandemic, WINAIR ran into financial problems because there were barely any revenues due to the halted air traffic, while the airline’s fixed costs largely continued. WINAIR is the only airline that has connections to all six Dutch Caribbean islands and it maintains the regular flight schedule to Saba and St. Eustatius from St. Maarten.
Because the inter-insular connectivity was at stake, the Dutch government decided to grant a $3 million mortgage loan with the airline’s building at St. Maarten’s airport as collateral and a repayment term of 18 months. The most important condition was that WINAIR had to execute at least two daily flights between St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba during the loan period.
The Dutch government owns 7.95% of the WINAIR shares. The other 92.05% is owned by the St. Maarten government. The Dutch government bought its share in 2010 to safeguard the connectivity to Saba and St. Eustatius.
In December 2021, it was announced that government ownership was not the “best suitable instrument” to safeguard this interest. “That is why it was indicated that the WINAIR shares will be disposed of as soon as an alternative instrument can be deployed. This means that the focus of government as shareholder has shifted to three priorities,” stated Harbers.
The first priority is to safeguard the accessibility of Saba and St. Eustatius as well as possible until an alternative instrument is better able to do so. Special points of attention are ticket prices, regular connections and continuity.
The second priority is that WINAIR repays the loan issued during the pandemic on time. The third priority is getting the company ready for an “orderly” transfer of the shares, stated the minister.
In December 2021, the Dutch government promised the Second Chamber that it would assess the possibilities of a Public Service Obligation (PSO) as an alternative instrument for government’s participation in WINAIR in order to guarantee the accessibility of the Caribbean Netherlands.
The PSO assessment was supposed to be ready by the end of the 2022, but this exercise has not been completed as yet, stated Harbers. He explained that his ministry was preparing a change to the Caribbean Netherlands Aviation Law which should “offer a foundation to establish a PSO on badly serviced routes to and from the Caribbean Netherlands.”
According to the minister, the improved access of Saba and St. Eustatius is of “vital importance” for the social-economic development of these islands. He announced that the adapted law proposal should be sent to the Second Chamber in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Harbers noted that to establish a PSO, financing was needed. The possibilities will be explored in the coming period and Parliament will be informed in the second half of 2023 about the results of these financial options.
