PARAMARIBO, Suriname, CMC – The financially troubled state-owned carrier, Surinamese Airways (SLM), has cancelled several flights leaving hundreds of passengers stranded in several destinations including Aruba, Curacao, the Netherlands and Miami.

The decision by the airline to cancel the flights comes even as the government says it is doing everything it can to save the airline that seems to be sinking further into financial problems.

The SLM is in debt of approximately US$75 million, with the Chan Santokhi-government blaming years of mismanagement by the board and wrong investment decisions by previous governments. The Government, the sole shareholder of the airline, wants to declare the company bankrupt.

Reports also indicated that foreign airlines that were hired to operate the flights for the SLM have not been paid, further compounding the situation.

Regarding the cancellations of its flights to Curacao and Aruba last weekend, SLM said this was due mainly to the fact that the documentation for Aurora Airlines to operate the flights was not in order. The wait for the airworthiness certificate from Spain for Aurora Airlines has taken longer than originally planned, the airline said in a statement.

But passengers have been critical of the airline for not providing adequate information about the cancelled flights with some indicating that they were only informed of the cancellations on arrival at the airports.

On May 23, SLM said that due to re-organizational plans it was stopping flights to Trinidad and Tobago and Belem do Para, Brazil.

The union, which represents the workers, said it is also being kept in the dark with both the government and the management not communicating the plans regarding the future viability of the airline.

Numerous questions have also been put to the government in Parliament with little or no response even though President Santokhi has promised that a special parliamentary session will be held to discuss the SLM and the company’s future.

SLM director, Paul de Haan, has since confirmed that he has founded a new joint-stock company, Flying On Trusted Wings, which has already been registered with the Chamber of Commerce. He told reports that the new entity is a holding company that may be part of the plans to get the SLM back into the green.

On Tuesday, local media reported that there are also serious problems in the Supervisory Board of the SLM and that a stalemate would have arisen after the majority of the members said they were unaware of the establishment of Haan’s company even though the chairman of the board, Xaviera Jessurun, did.

Jessurun was appointed by the Government in January as chairman of the board of the SLM.