The top management of Insel Air wanted to met with the Commissioner of Aviation, Sarah Wescot-Williams on their latest developments and future intentions of the airline and what the possibilities were of a mutually beneficial relationship.
Albert Kluyver, Chief Executive Officer, Jurgen Lippinkhof, Chief Commercial Officer, and Edward Heekenveen, International Affairs—all of Insel Air laid out their plans to the commissioner. Also present at the meeting was Regina La Bega, Head of the Tourism Department.
Commissioner Wescot-Williams said that we have met in the past and have taken note of your activities. Today, we are here to discuss present and future developments of Insel Air.
Currently, Insel Air airline is expanding their operations in the region and working on alliances, CEO Kluyver said. We are initiating new flights to Puerto Rico and we already have interline connections with Winair, making the destinations we serve close to 20. Insel Air is making strides, Kluyver said.
Not only are Insel Air looking towards South America with destinations being Colombia, Brazil, and Venezuela, but also trying to expand to the North American Market, in particular Miami, with St. Maarten being an important hub, according to Kluyver.
Commissioner Wescot-Williams was pleased to hear of these developments—all of which could be beneficial to the destination St. Maaten. There needs to be the further development and finalization of certain aspects of the operations, but everything seems to be on line, and the future plans of the airline looks promising.
I look forward to future developments of Insel Air, Commissioner Wescot-Williams said. What needs to be done now is for a formal proposal to be submitted to the Executive Council, and from there we could deal with the issue and the document.