Overnight layover in Curaçao??

[boat sju]

We spent some time in Curacao once. Hadn't really planned on it, that was Insel's idea, if that tells you anything about Insel.

 

[DustyC]

Our taxi driver just now told us that Insel canceled every flight to here yesterday. He didn't say how many they had scheduled.

 

[wwguy]

Our taxi driver just now told us that Insel canceled every flight to here yesterday. He didn't say how many they had scheduled.

Not exactly... but close. FlightAware shows Insel had 3 flights scheduled from Curacao to Bonaire yesterday and that all 3 eventually arrived. One flight was on time, one was 3 hours late, and one was 15 hours late (finally arriving at 11:00 AM this morning.)

This is bad enough on it's own but these delays have a ripple effect to subsequent flights because Insel doesn't have spare aircraft to make up the lost capacity. We had a friend stranded in Curacao for 3 days a few years ago while waiting for Insel to catch up on flights to Bonaire after similar delays. It took Insel 3 days to transfer the backlog of passengers before they became current with their original schedule again.

Like many others watching the Insel debacle I think it's only a matter of time before this airline goes out of business. I'm not sure why but no local airline seems to do well over time in this region. During the years we've been visiting Bonaire we've seen other regional airlines fold including Antillean Airlines (2001), Dutch Caribbean Airlines (2004), and Dutch Antilles Express (2013.) All, including Insel, were headquartered in Curacao.

 

[ScubaMarc]

my buddies wanted 1 night of decent drinking and a night life, so we stay in Curacao over a Saturday night and went home Sunday. The night was ok, but it was around 500 extra for the trip. I did not think it was worth it. The 500 was airfare, taxi, some taxes, more expensive room than bonaire. No issues with the flight, DAE airlines if I remember correctly.

 

[jimw]

AA flys twice a day MIA-CUR. If you take the 11am flight, you might make it to BON the same day using Divi Divi Air--last flight of the day at 5pm....... Jet Blue starts flying Ft Lauderdale- Aruba soon, but getting from there to Bonaire will be problematic as the only reliable air transport in the area (Divi), flys only between Curacao and Bonaire. For us in SoFla, if only Jet Blue went to Bonaire or Curacao!!

 

[jimw]

Ramiz: “InselAir aircraft graveyard”

Click on Inselair at the bottom of this story to find more--their fate seems sealed as of late November, 2016 as ww indicates above.

 

[tkaelin]

if only Jet Blue went to Bonaire or Curacao

I am with you! Jet Blue started flying JFK-Cur about a year ago with Sat and Thu departures. Fares are around $300-$350 and that includes a checked bag. We are taking our first trip at the end of the month. If the diving is a good as I have read, it will be tough trying to go back to Bon with their high fares. If Jet Blue flew to Bon within the same fare range we would visit more often.

 

[Nikole]

I'm going to be In Bonaire for only a week so seeing just those things are good enough for me in Curaçao. I don't have enough PTO to cover that many days for Curaçao

I've been to Curacao many times, but have not flown Insel and have read too many bad stories to want to. Most recently I've seen news about financial issues - Insel Air in financially dire straits

If you need to have an overnight in Curacao for flights to work that's one thing, but I think planning one night there to "get to know Curacao a bit" is a waste of time. Either go straight to Bonaire and have more time there, or stay on Curacao at least a few days and make it worthwhile, and maybe dive there too. Curacao is a bigger more varied island than Bonaire, and in less than a day you're not really going to get much of a sense of the place. (I think people there for such a short time tend to see mostly the city, cruise ships, oil refinery, and other heavily developed areas of Curacao and get a negative impression, thinking that's all there is to the place. Which is definitely not the case.)

 

[Nikole]

I

Not exactly... but close. FlightAware shows Insel had 3 flights scheduled from Curacao to Bonaire yesterday and that all 3 eventually arrived. One flight was on time, one was 3 hours late, and one was 15 hours late (finally arriving at 11:00 AM this morning.)

This is bad enough on it's own but these delays have a ripple effect to subsequent flights because Insel doesn't have spare aircraft to make up the lost capacity. We had a friend stranded in Curacao for 3 days a few years ago while waiting for Insel to catch up on flights to Bonaire after similar delays. It took Insel 3 days to transfer the backlog of passengers before they became current with their original schedule again.

Like many others watching the Insel debacle I think it's only a matter of time before this airline goes out of business. I'm not sure why but no local airline seems to do well over time in this region. During the years we've been visiting Bonaire we've seen other regional airlines fold including Antillean Airlines (2001), Dutch Caribbean Airlines (2004), and Dutch Antilles Express (2013.) All, including Insel, were headquartered in Curacao.

So everyone is complaining about Curaçao - Bonaire flights What about Miami to Curaçao (yes, on Insel airlines) any delays there too, or no ? ? ? ?

 

[jimw]

I


So everyone is complaining about Curaçao - Bonaire flights What about Miami to Curaçao (yes, on Insel airlines) any delays there too, or no ? ? ? ?

Insel has delays thruout their system.

Most of our people who flew Insel last August had some delays ranging from 3 hours to overnight in and out of Miami. As it happened, Delta also had to stop in Orlando and fly in mechanics to fix the plane on the way to Bonaire, so that one was about 8 hours late. Every carrier has problems, but Insel's are constant now. We are telling those from Florida who travel with us to Bonaire each year, do not use Insel. AA Miami-Curacao and Divi Divi Air on to Bonaire works well. For us, we fly up to Atlanta and then Delta to Bonaire.