Last Saturday flight   PY 421 to Georgetown and Miami was delayed due to unplanned technical maintenance to one of the two Boeing 737-800 planes of the SLM. Passengers waited at the airport for hours before being told by the employees of SLM that the flight had been cancelled due to technical reasons. The national soccer team of Suriname which was scheduled to leave for El Salvador via Miami to participate in a crucial World Cup qualifier.  The passengers who wanted to spend a short vacation in Miami strongly criticized the SLM. The delay and the poor communication with the passengers comes at an extremely sensitive time. On June 3 the European Union “closed its airspace” to aircraft registered in  Suriname. The European Commission updated the EU Air Safety List, which lists airlines subject to an operating ban or operational restrictions within the European Union because they do not meet international safety standards. Based on this revision, all air carriers certified in Suriname  have been included in the list and can no longer operate within the EU. Only SLM flights to Amsterdam are allowed thanks to the use of European planes that are leased to SLM by Universal Sky Carrier. Regional flight routes such as the one to  Cayenne have also been ‘frozen.’  Without drastic reforms and structural improvements in communication, fleet management and supervision Suriname could be isolated internationally. However, it has become clear that the SLM still has not learned anything from its mistakes and keeps leaving its passengers stranded at airports for hours without giving them any information. “It makes you feel uncomfortable when you realize that the SLM cannot do something as simple as making contact with its passengers,” said one of the passengers.

Sources told Times of Suriname that some of the passengers who were left stranded were flown to Miami on Sunday afternoon. The national soccer team was also on that flight.