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]
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| Founded | 2003 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commenced operations | August 14, 2015 | ||||||
| Ceased operations | February 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 size | 6 | ||||||
| Destinations | 8 | ||||||
| Parent company | Grupo Cóndor C.A. | ||||||
| Headquarters | Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | ||||||
| Key people | Simeon Garcia (Owner) Gary Stone (CEO) Alexander Barrios (Director of Corporate Affairs) | ||||||
| Website | pawadominicana | ||||||
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 and restarted operations 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 its 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]
| Country | City | Airport | Notes | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
As of August 2017, the fleet of PAWA Dominicana consisted of the following aircraft:[9][10]
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Y | Total | ||||
| Boeing 757-200[11] | — | 2 | TBA | Intended to be transferred from SBA Airlines. | ||
| Boeing 767-300ER | — | 2 | TBA | 247 | ||
| Bombardier CRJ200LR | — | 6 | – | 50 | 50 | Intended for use under the PAWA Connection banner.[12] |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | 1 | — | – | 160 | 160 | |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | 4 | — | – | 160 | 160 | |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-87 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 97 | 109 | |
| Total | 6 | 11 | ||||
Former fleet
PAWA Dominicana formerly operated the following types:
| Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| British Aerospace Jetstream 31 | 3 | 2007 | 2012 | |
| Cirrus SR-22 | 1 | 2015 | 2016 | |
| McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 | 3 | 2008 | 2017 |
See also
References
Junta de Aviación Civil de la República Dominicana (JAC).Instituto Dominicano de Aviación Civil de la República Dominicana (IDAC).
External links
