Acquisition of InselAir in Jeopardy

By René Zwart ©

Willemstad – The acquisition of InselAir is in doubt. interCaribbean Airways, which was slated to buy the remnants of the Curaçaon airline for a dollar, has also failed yesterday to provide the already promised bank guarantee of 20 million guilders.

The airline company from the Turks & Caicos islands was absent at the session of the court, which once again showed its pleasant side by giving the management 9 days extra to meet the requirements of financial guarantees for the take over. If that has not happened on December 28, the court will almost certainly pronounce the final bankruptcy of InselAir. Administrator Rogier van den Heuvel is not happy and has filed a lawsuit against inter-Caribbean. He states that there are binding agreements about the takeover. The injuction will be heard on Friday.

The severely loss-making InselAir has been granted a suspension of payments a year and a half ago to give it the opportunity to find a partner. Two acquisition candidates have withdrawn in the interim. In contravention of the law, the debt has increased further in recent times. This amounts to approximately 170 million guilders, spread over 1,200 creditors. At the continuation of the takeover they will each receive 3,000 guilders.

The failure of the acquisition will hardly have any consequences for travelers. The few destinations that InselAir is flying with its only Fokker50 aircraft can also be reached with other local airlines.