Kralendijk- Island-Governor of Bonaire, Edison Reina, says that several steps have been taken in response to the precarious situation surrounding the airlift to and from Bonaire, caused by problems at local carrier Insel Air. According to Reina, the action is being jointly undertaken by the Government of Bonaire and the Kingdom government.

In a press release issued today, Reina said that both governments are considering both short and longer term solutions when it comes to securing the airlift. According to the release by the Government of Bonaire, the governments are now exploring solutions and conducting discussions in case Insel cannot continue its flights to Bonaire. “The aim here is, should such a situation arise, to have a timely alternative in place”, said Reina. “Therefore, discussions are taking place both with airlines which already fly to Bonaire as well as initiatives of possible startups”, according to the island Governor. According to Reina, priority is given to those initiatives which can offer concrete alternatives on the short term.

For the longer term, Reina said that the countries in the Kingdom agreed to jointly investigate how the interconnections between the islands can be assured in a structural way. For both Executive Council and the Kingdom government, especially the connections to and from Bonaire require special attention. Rijna says that The Kingdom government has started with a first survey of promising initiatives in the region, which has led to a shortlist of 6 parties with the most promising plans.

According to Reina, the Executive Council and Kingdom Government will further liaise with the identified parties in order to see how they parties can actually realize their plans and secure a better airlift for the island.

Recently both local and Kingdom government were heavily criticized by among others the Bonaire Business and Employer’s organization (BBE), who felt that the governments are not sufficiently diligent when it comes with the challenges related to securing sufficient airlift. BBE said they were especially disappointed in the lack of any information surround the airlift situation. They also pointed out that they had never received any answer so far, to any of their letters to local and Kingdom government representatives.