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]

PAWA Dominicana
IATA ICAO Call sign
7N PWD PAWA
Founded2003
Commenced operationsAugust 14, 2015
Ceased operationsFebruary 2, 2018
HubsLas Américas International Airport
Secondary hubsPunta Cana International Airport (2008-2012)
Frequent-flyer programPreference
AllianceAserca Airlines[1]
SubsidiariesPAWA Connection
Fleet size6
Destinations8
Parent companyGrupo Cóndor C.A.
HeadquartersSanto Domingo, Dominican Republic
Key peopleSimeon Garcia (Owner)
Gary Stone (CEO)
Alexander Barrios (Director of Corporate Affairs)
Websitepawadominicana.com (out of order)

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

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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

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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

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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

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PAWA had codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

Fleet

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Final fleet

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A former PAWA Dominicana McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32
 
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]

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

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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

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References

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  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. ^ a b "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).

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