WILLEMSTAD – The Curaçao Civil Aviation Authority has finally been formally established in law, marking an important step in the long-running effort to repair weaknesses in the island’s aviation oversight system.
The Establishment Decree for the Curaçao Civil Aviation Authority was published on June 19. With this decision, the authority, also known as the CBA, is formally designated as an implementing organization within the Ministry of Traffic, Transport and Urban Planning.
Although the aviation authority has operated in practice since the constitutional reform of October 10, 2010, the explanatory note to the decree states that it did not previously have a clear formal legal basis. The new decree applies retroactively to June 19, 2019, the date on which the Council of Ministers approved the formation plan and organizational structure of the CBA.
The decision is more than an administrative correction. It is part of a broader recovery process after years of criticism from the United States Federal Aviation Administration and the International Civil Aviation Organization. Both institutions previously identified shortcomings in Curaçao’s aviation oversight system.
The FAA downgraded Curaçao in 2012 from Category 1 to Category 2 under its International Aviation Safety Assessment program. That rating does not mean that flights to Curaçao are unsafe, but it does mean that the country’s civil aviation oversight system did not meet international standards at the time of the assessment. As a result, Curaçao-based airlines could not open new routes to the United States and faced limitations in code-share arrangements.
According to the explanatory note, the FAA pointed to shortcomings in areas such as technical personnel, training, financial resources and enforcement capacity. ICAO later found additional weaknesses, including the absence of an explicit legal basis for the aviation authority, unclear inspector powers, and insufficient mechanisms for binding rules, sanctions and the regular updating of aviation regulations.
The new decree gives the CBA responsibility for supervision of airlines, aircraft, aircraft maintenance, airports, air navigation services, aviation personnel licensing, aviation security and dangerous goods. The authority can advise the minister on sanctions and, if mandate or delegation is granted, may also take enforcement action itself.
However, the decree does not complete the reform process. The CBA will continue to operate under ministerial responsibility for now. The government is still working on a new Aviation Ordinance and additional rules covering air transport, airports, navigation services, security and safety management.
The government also intends to designate the CBA’s director-general by national ordinance as an independent administrative authority. That step is considered important because ICAO and the FAA expect aviation supervision and enforcement to function at sufficient distance from political influence.
According to the government, the remaining legislative process could be completed by the end of 2027.
For Curaçao, the publication of the decree is therefore a necessary milestone, but not the final destination. The island must still prove during future international assessments that the new legal framework is not only on paper, but also works in practice.