The direct commercial flights between the Dominican Republic and Haiti have been temporarily suspended confirms the Haitian company Sunrise Airways in a statement.

"On 1 March 2016, the 'Junta de Aviacion Civil' (JAC) of the Dominican Republic taken the unfortunate decision to suspend regular flights between Port -au-Prince, Haiti (PAP) and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (JBQ) of Sunrise Airways. This action was taken without notice of any kind and is completely unfounded."

The airline recalled in its note "In February 2014, Sunrise has become the first airline operating between Haiti and the Dominican Republic being compliant with the strictest safety standards adopted by the civil aviation authorities of the two countries and obey the requirements of Annex 6 of the International Organization of Civil Aviation (ICAO)."

However in a statement the "Junta de Aviación Civil," this is clearly not a security issue that is the cause of this temporary suspension, but rather a question of expired insurance policy, stating that it was ordained to Sunrise Airways "a temporary suspension of its flights for breach of Manual of Requirements in terms of civil liability insurance," stressing that this "temporary suspension of flights of Sunrise Airways between Santo Domingo and Port-au-Prince, is contained in Resolution 37-2016, issued by the regular meeting of the plenary of civil Aviation Council held on 24 February."

JAC says that the suspension "will remain in effect until the Company files in the offices of the Aviation Commission, the original or a certified copy of the public liability insurance policy, now expired, to meet the requirements of Appendix A of the JAC-001-5.0 requirements Manual."

However, other sources consulted indicated that the reasons could be "purely commercial", but say they are confident that the resumption of flights of Sunrise Airways, could be done this week.

Learn more about Sunrise Airways :

Based in Port-au-Prince with a maintenance facility dedicated to Santiago, Dominican Republic, Sunrise Airways is owned by businessman and philanthropist Haitian recognized, Philippe Bayard. The members of the management team has on average over 15 years in aviation with well known industry brands like Aerocaribbean, Air Jamaica, BAE Systems, Condor Airlines, Jamaica Air Shuttle, and LAN Airlines.

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16759-haiti-economy-sunrise-airways-increases-its-services-on-cuba.html

SL/ HaitiLibre