The director of the Corporación Dominicana de Empresas Estatales announced that he has set aside a fund of US$300,000 to turn Dominicana de Aviación into a freight carrier for the Caribbean region. Pedro Bretón said that Dominicana can fly to all the Caribbean islands except Puerto Rico because of the debts the airline has with U.S. companies.
Pedro Bretón told the Listín Diario that the monies to be invested in the airline would principally come from the US$5 million his organization will receive as a result of its association with the Swiss company, Umar LTD/Holderbank, which has purchased 70% of the shares in the Fábrica Dominicana de Cemento to obtain the Cemento Colón brand name.
He said that Dominicana Airlines has maintained its name on the scene, by wet-leasing routes to airlines traveling to Europe. He said they do not expect to make a profit from the flights, but feel it will be a positive step towards Dominicana Airlines taking to the skies again with its own aircraft.
He said that Dominicana owes U.S. companies more than US$18 million dollars. The airline stopped flying in 1994, principally because of that debt.