United Caribbean Airlines B.V. and JetAir Caribbean B.V., doing business as JetAir Caribbean (4J, Curaçao) have cancelled all flights and filed for bankruptcy in Curaçao's Court of First Instance on June 18, 2024. This follows the abrupt grounding of the carrier's only aircraft, a Fokker 70, midway through the day's flying on June 17, reportedly for technical reasons.
The airline, only established in 2019, linked Curaçao with Kingston Norman Manley, Medellín José Maria Córdova, and St. Maarten. It had also contracted with Albatros Airlines (GAL, Maracay Mariscal Sucre) to operate to Aruba and Bonaire using an E120.
"As a result of JetAir's bankruptcy, all debts are frozen," said trustees HBN Law. According to the Dominican Today, JetAir lost ANG2 million Aruban guilders (USD1.11 million) in the first four months of the year. Given the onset of Covid-19, the timing of JetAir's launch was unlucky, and it has struggled to gain traction ever since. Financial constraints saw the carrier ground one of its two F70s and use it for parts to keep the other one flying. More recently, it had been attempting to lease an ATR42-300 to replace the Fokker.
The initial stage of the bankruptcy process will see the trustees collecting creditor information, inventorying assets, and determining whether to attempt to restart the airline or liquidate it.
