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If all goes well, the SLM wants to start operating its own A330 aircraft on the Mid-Atlantic route at the beginning of February 2022. The aircraft in question is currently in the C-check in Turkey and is expected in the second week of December.
Leo Brunswijk, one of the commissioners of the Surinamese Luchtvaart Maatschappij (SLM) announced this after a meeting with President Chandrikapersad Santokhi on Friday. The head of state has welcomed the management and Supervisory Board of SLM and representatives of NV Airport Management to his cabinet. During the visit, the president was informed about the lease of the A330 aircraft that has been deployed.
Among those present were the first lady Mellisa Seenacherry-Santokhi, the ministers Albert Jubithana of Transport, Communication and Tourism (TCT) and Albert Ramdin of Foreign Affairs, International Business and International Cooperation (BIBIS), the director of the SLM Paul de Haan and Supervisory Board member Leo Brunswijk. The president was also briefed on the financial benefits that come with having his own aircraft box. SLM is currently already flying with an Airbus A330 and A340 that have been leased from, among others, Air Belgium.
According to Brunswijk, contact has already been made with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority Suriname (CASAS) to ensure that this box meets the safety rules. “With its own box, the SLM can offer a better on-time performance. The chance of delays is less and the service is better,” says Brunswijk. Lobbying is underway to renew the SLM fleet as soon as possible. This box is a start to this.
In September it was announced that the SLM was in talks with a leasing company about the possible lease of an Airbus A330-200, who previously flew for KLM. But according to Dagblad De West, the plane, for which a contract has now been signed, was previously used by Virgin Australia. That is the second largest airline in Australia.
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