WILLEMSTAD - The local airline EZ Air has lost a case against Curaçao Airport Partners (CAP). The airline wants exclusive access to a hangar at Hato airport, and accuses the airport operator of abuse of power, as the airline has not received authorization to occupy a hangar.
EZ Air operates scheduled flights and charters on the ABC islands and has two Beech 1900s stationed on Curaçao. Those aircraft must be parked somewhere, but the airline and the airport got a dispute about that.
In a complaint to the Fair Trade Authority Curaçao (FTAC), EZ Air states that the CAP refuses to make an existing hangar exclusively available to the airline. According to EZ Air, CAP applies unreasonable conditions for the rent of a new hangar to be built, and they are conducting a tender procedure for the rent of a recently released hangar.
However, the FTAC believes that exclusive access to hangar space is not indispensable for competing in the aviation market. In addition, the FTAC does not consider it unreasonable for the airport to use a tendering procedure to allocate available hangar space. According to FTAC, there is therefore no question of abuse of power.