PAWA Dominicana

Last updated
PAWA Dominicana
PAWA Dominicana Logo.png
IATA ICAO Callsign
7NPWDPAWA
Founded2003
Commenced operationsAugust 14, 2015
Ceased operationsFebruary 2, 2018
Hubs Las Américas International Airport
Secondary hubs Punta Cana International Airport (2008-2012)
Frequent-flyer program Preference
Alliance Aserca Airlines [1]
Subsidiaries PAWA Connection
Fleet size6
Destinations8
Parent company Pan Am (2003-2005)
Servair (2005-2009)
Grupo Cóndor C.A. (2009-2018)
Headquarters Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Key peopleSimeon Garcia (Owner)
Gary Stone (CEO)
Alexander Barrios (Director of Corporate Affairs)
Website pawadominicana.com (out of order)

PAWA Dominicana (legally Pan Am World Airways Dominicana, C x A) was the international flag carrier of the Dominican Republic. It was created as a subsidiary airline for Pan American Airways. This airline had scheduled flights between Santo Domingo and other Caribbean and US destinations. It was based at Santo Domingo-Las Americas. [2]

Contents

Authority for several international routes was suspended on January 28, 2018. [3] As of February 2018, the airline has ceased all of its operations. The airline's failure would be the first test of the nation's new bankruptcy law. [4]

History

PAWA Dominicana was created in 2003 as a subsidiary of Pan American Airways, which had also operated within a strategic alliance with Boston-Maine Airways. In April 2005, Servair, a Dominican Corporation dedicated to offering services to airlines in all airports in the Dominican Republic, acquired the airline completely and began a new certification process within the framework of the new Dominican regulations, which allowed the company to operate under local control.

In May 2007, the company received the Air Operator Certificate Part 121 from the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation (IDAC), which allows the airline to operate regular services from the Dominican Republic to North, Central, and South America, as well as the Caribbean region and charter services around the world. The first flight took place on October 1, 2007.

On June 4, 2010, the company was purchased by a group of airline professionals and they appointed Mrs. Mirtha Espada as the company's president.

In February 2012, the airline temporarily ceased scheduled services but continued operating charter services. In March 2012 the company appointed Hector Gomez as president with the task of re-orienting the company and also calling back the former company's founder and owner as a part of the organization.

The airline secured its air operator certificate in mid-October 2014 and started services using 4 McDonnell Douglas MD-80s. The first flight took place on August 14, 2015. [5]

On January 26, 2018, PAWA was suspended under the allegation of non-payment, since they owed more than $3 Million to the Dominican authorities, among them, the Civil Aviation Board, the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation, and the Dominican Airport's company 21st Century. Due to this, the JAC suspended the airline for 90 days and was not allowed to travel, therefore it generated many complaints with passengers who were stranded in air terminals. On February 2, 2018, a new element was added due to the suspension and that is the lack of maintenance to the airline's fleet. PAWA's related Venezuelan airline, SBA Airlines was also suspended by his country's authorities on the same day and for similar reasons in April of the same year. The company closed legally on August 6, 2019, by the authority of Dominican aviation IDAC.

Operations

PAWA Dominicana authority included international charter services and scheduled services to Antigua, Aruba, Curaçao, Havana, San Juan, and St. Maarten from their Santo Domingo hub with several flights a week on the MD-80 and DC-9.

PAWA was working to consolidate flights to New York and Miami (service started Nov. 2016) and other Caribbean Islands. The company's goal was stated as "to make SDQ the HUB of the Caribbean." In the future, PAWA would have planned flights from Santiago and Punta Cana to Miami, New York, and San Juan.

Destinations

As of January 28, 2018, PAWA Dominicana served the following destinations: [3]

CountryCityAirportNotesRefs
Antigua and Barbuda St. John's V. C. Bird International Airport Via Sint Maarten
Aruba Oranjestad Queen Beatrix International Airport
Cuba Havana José Martí International Airport
Curaçao Willemstad Hato International Airport
Dominican Republic Santo Domingo Las Americas International Airport Hub
Haiti Port-au-Prince Toussaint Louverture International Airport Terminated
Puerto Rico San Juan Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport [6]
Sint Maarten Philipsburg Princess Juliana International Airport
United States Miami Miami International Airport [7]

Codeshare agreements

PAWA had codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

Fleet

Final fleet

A former PAWA Dominicana McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 DC932PAWAD.jpg
A former PAWA Dominicana McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32
A PAWA Dominicana McDonnell Douglas MD-83 approaching Princess Juliana International Airport in 2016 PAWA Dominicana McDonnell Douglas MD-83 JP8459571.jpg
A PAWA Dominicana McDonnell Douglas MD-83 approaching Princess Juliana International Airport in 2016

As of August 2017, the fleet of PAWA Dominicana consisted of the following aircraft: [9] [10]

AircraftIn
service
OrdersPassengersNotes
CYTotal
Boeing 757-200 [11] 2TBAIntended to be transferred from SBA Airlines.
Boeing 767-300ER 2TBA247
Bombardier CRJ200LR 65050Intended for use under the PAWA Connection banner. [12]
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 1160160
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 4160160
McDonnell Douglas MD-87 111297109
Total611

Former fleet

PAWA Dominicana formerly operated the following types:

AircraftTotalIntroducedRetiredNotes
British Aerospace Jetstream 31 320072012
Cirrus SR-22 120152016
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 320082017

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transport in the Dominican Republic</span>

Transport in the Dominican Republic utilizes a system of roads, airports, ports, harbours, and an urban railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">José Martí International Airport</span> Cuban airport serving Havana located in Boyeros

José Martí International Airport, sometimes known by its former name Rancho Boyeros Airport, is an international airport located 20 kilometres (12 mi) southwest of the centre of Havana, Cuba, and is a hub for Cubana de Aviación and Aerogaviota, and former Latin American hub for the Soviet airline Aeroflot. It is Cuba's main international airport, and serves several million passengers each year. The facility is operated by Empresa Cubana de Aeropuertos y Servicios Aeronáuticos (ECASA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miami International Airport</span> Airport serving Miami, Florida, U.S.

Miami International Airport, also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the greater Miami metropolitan area with over 1,000 daily flights to 167 domestic and international destinations, including most countries in Latin America. The airport is in an unincorporated area in Miami-Dade County, 8 miles (13 km) west-northwest of Downtown Miami, in metropolitan Miami, adjacent to the cities of Miami and Miami Springs, and the village of Virginia Gardens. Nearby cities include Hialeah, Doral, and the Census-designated place of Fontainebleau.

Compañía Dominicana de Aviación, usually shortened to Dominicana, was an airline based in the Dominican Republic and served as the flag carrier for the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1970 Dominicana de Aviación DC-9 crash</span> 1970 aviation accident in the Dominican Republic

On February 15, 1970, a Dominicana de Aviación McDonnell Douglas DC-9 enroute from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic to San Juan, Puerto Rico crashed into the Caribbean Sea shortly after takeoff. The crash killed all 102 passengers and crew on board, making it the deadliest aviation disaster to occur in the Dominican Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Las Américas International Airport</span> Airport in the Dominican Republic

Las Américas International Airport is an international airport located in Punta Caucedo, near Santo Domingo and Boca Chica in the Dominican Republic. The airport is run by Aeropuertos Dominicanos Siglo XXI (AERODOM), a private corporation based in the Dominican Republic, under a 25-year concession to build, operate, and transfer (BOT) six of the country's airports. Las Américas usually receives a wide variety of long-, mid-, and short-haul aircraft. Santo Domingo's other airport, La Isabela, is much smaller and used by smaller aircraft only.

Air Aruba was the main air carrier from the island of Aruba. It was founded in 1986 and it declared bankruptcy in 2000. It was headquartered in the Brown Invest Building in Oranjestad, Aruba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aero Caribbean</span> Defunct Cuban airline

Aero Caribbean was an airline based in Vedado, Plaza de la Revolución, Havana, Cuba. It operated scheduled domestic passenger services to domestic destinations and international services, and charter flights mainly within the Caribbean and South America. Its main base was at José Martí International Airport, Havana.

Aserca Airlines C.A. was an airline based in Valencia, Venezuela. It operated domestic and regional scheduled services to destinations in the Caribbean and Central America. Its main hub was at Arturo Michelena International Airport.

Santa Bárbara Airlines C.A, doing business as SBA Airlines and formerly as Santa Bárbara Airlines prior to 2008, was an airline with its headquarters on the third floor of the Edificio Tokay in Caracas, Venezuela. It operated scheduled domestic and international services. Its main base was Simón Bolívar International Airport, Maiquetía (Caracas).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caribair</span> Airline based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Caribair was an airline based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It operated scheduled services within the Dominican Republic and to Haiti, as well as charter flights and air taxi services throughout the Caribbean. Its main base was La Isabela International Airport, Santo Domingo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cibao International Airport</span> Airport in Santiago Province, Dominican Republic

Cibao International Airport, also known as Santiago Airport, is located in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic's second-largest city. It is the country's third-busiest airport by passenger traffic and aircraft movements, after Punta Cana International Airport and Las Américas International Airport. Since its inauguration, in terms of passenger traffic, Cibao International has been projected to become one of the busiest airports in the country. Presently it has become the third-busiest airport in the Dominican Republic, only being surpassed by the airports of Punta Cana and Santo Domingo. The airport served more than 1,900,000 passengers in 2021.

Insel Air was a Dutch Caribbean carrier that served as the national airline of Curaçao. It was headquartered in Maduro Plaza, Willemstad. Insel Air last served five destinations throughout the Caribbean, South America. Its fleet consisted of Fokker 50 aircraft. The airline had a hub in Hato International Airport in Curaçao.

Aeronaves Dominicanas or AERODOMCA is an air charter airline established in 1980 with facilities in Samaná El Catey International Airport, and main offices in the La Isabela International Airport, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Santiago Municipal Airport was a both passenger and military airport located in the Center of Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic. This airport served this city with daily flights to San Juan in Puerto Rico, Port-au-Prince in Haiti, Santiago de Cuba, Miami and others. It was the major hub of Dominair, who had based two Dash 8 here. It was also used as a secondary hub by the FAD.

Eastern Airlines, LLC is an American airline founded in 2010. It operates Boeing 767s and Boeing 777s. It began as Dynamic Airways and later added "International" to its name to reflect its transition from a charter airline into scheduled international services. Under the Dynamic name, the airline was headquartered in High Point, North Carolina, offering service from New York to South America. It used to operate from Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York to the Caribbean, Cancún, and South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arajet</span> Flag carrier of the Dominican Republic

Arajet S.A. is an ultra low-cost airline and the flag carrier of the Dominican Republic. Operations began on 15 September 2022 with a flight to Barranquilla, Colombia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Miguel Pacheco Mendez</span> Originator of modern commercial aviation in the Dominican Republic

Víctor Miguel Pacheco Méndez is a Dominican businessman and entrepreneur. He is the founder of Arajet and Laytrip. With the idea of transforming commercial flying in the Dominican Republic, both companies are designed to support tourism to and from the Dominican Republic.

Zoilo Hermogenes García Peña was a civil engineer and aviator from the Dominican Republic. Besides being a prolific engineer credited with building, among other things, the first theater of La Vega, he is best remembered for designing and flying the first Dominican heavier-than-air aircraft in 1911–1912.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sky Cana</span> Dominican airline

Sky Holdings Corporation d/b/a Sky Cana is an airline with ACMI contracted operators headquartered in Santo Domingo. It started scheduled services to Caribbean and the United States from its two hubs: Las Américas International Airport and Cibao International Airport. The services offered are transfer, freight, overflight, helicopter, advertising, air ambulance, and tour services. The airline of the Dominican Republic has started flights from New York-JFK to Santiago de los Caballeros and Santo Domingo with two flights daily.

References

  1. "Aserca Airlines y Pawa Dominicana conectan Venezuela y el Caribe". Caribbeannewsdigital.com. October 12, 2016.
  2. CH-Aviation (November 21, 2008). "PAWA Dominicana hubs and airline details". ch-aviation.ch. Retrieved 2009-02-24.
  3. 1 2 "IDAC Threatens Property Embargo On PAWA Dominicana". Curacao Chronicle. February 12, 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  4. Jaime M, Señor Fernandez (February 15, 2018). "La reestructuración mercantil de PAWA Dominicana". El Dinero (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  5. "PAWA Dominicana sets August 14 launch date". Ch-aviation.com. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
  6. Michelle Kantrow-Vázquez. "Pawa Dominicana launches flight operations in P.R." Newsismybusiness.com. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
  7. "Pawa Launches Its First Nonstop Caribbean Flights From Miami". Caribjournal.com. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  8. "Nuevo acuerdo de código compartido entre PAWA Dominicana y Air Europa". Caribbeannewsdigital.com (in Spanish). November 15, 2017.
  9. "Global Airline Guide 2017 (Part One)". Airliner World (October 2017): 13.
  10. "PAWA Dominicana Fleet Details and History". Planespotters.net. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  11. "El Boeing 757 con el que Pawa volará a Miami y Nueva York". Arecoa.com (in Spanish). Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  12. "PAWA Connection lo nuevo de la aerolínea dominicana para sus vuelos de corto radio". Aerolatinnews.com (in Spanish). Retrieved March 23, 2017.

Junta de Aviación Civil de la República Dominicana (JAC). Instituto Dominicano de Aviación Civil de la República Dominicana (IDAC).