Department of Civil Aviation Aruba (DLA)

Aruba together with the Netherlands, Curaçao and Sint Maarten constitutes the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and therefore shares in the collective ICAO membership of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In 1986 Aruba attained an autonomous state within the Kingdom and the Department of Civil Aviation Aruba was founded.

Firstly, the aviation laws of the Netherlands Antilles were adopted, afterwards amended and synchronized with the Dutch aviation laws.

In 1995 major changes were made in the regulation in order to meet the level of the new European Joint Aviation Requirements (JAR-OPS, JAR-FCL, etc.). By meeting these requirements Aruba received high scores in the US DOT (FAA) audit, this resulted in an IASA-category 1 listing.

These extensive efforts ensured for a thorough safety culture with several aviation authorities in Aruba. The aviation authorities and the local aviation industry have focused on the achievement of and to operate with the highest standards.

A lot of time is spend and research done, taking into account the size of the island and the changing requirements, to meet these high requirements as well as the continuous promotion of the aviation industry in Aruba.
An example of this is entering into agreements with other civil aviation authorities to share expertise.