Air Caraïbes
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| Founded | 1969 (as Société Antillaise de Transport Aérien/Air Guadeloupe)[1] | ||||||
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| Commenced operations | July 2000[1] | ||||||
| Hubs | Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport | ||||||
| Focus cities |
Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport Paris-Orly Airport | ||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | Preference | ||||||
| Alliance | LIAT | ||||||
| Fleet size | 12 | ||||||
| Destinations | 14 | ||||||
| Company slogan | Haute en couleurs (Colourful) | ||||||
| Parent company | Groupe Dubreuil | ||||||
| Headquarters | Les Abymes, Guadeloupe | ||||||
| Key people | Marc Rochet | ||||||
| Website | http://www.aircaraibes.com/ | ||||||
Air Caraïbes is a French airline and is the regional airline of the French Caribbean which comprises two overseas departments of France: Guadeloupe and Martinique. The airline is headquartered in Les Abymes in Guadeloupe.[2] and its main base is Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport, with a hub at Le Lamentin Airport, near Fort-de-France.[3] It operates scheduled and charter services serving 13 islands in the West Indies. It also operates transatlantic flights to Paris using Airbus A330 and Airbus A350 aircraft under the Air Caraïbes Atlantique brand. The airline code shares with LIAT.
History
Air Caraïbes started out of the necessity to have a regional airline responding to the needs of the French Caribbean territories. The company was founded in July 2000 through the merger of various local airlines (Air Guadeloupe, Air Martinique, Air Saint Barthélémy, Air Saint Martin). In 2002, the company flew 445,000 passengers and had €68 million in revenues. It is part of the Carib Sky Alliance, an airline alliance which comprises in addition to Air Caraïbes the following airlines: Leeward Islands Air Transport and Winair (Windward Islands Airways).
It was established as Societe Caribéenne de Transports Aériens and started operations in September 1994. It started services to Paris from Guadeloupe and Martinique in December 2003 using an Airbus A330-200. The airline is owned by Groupe Dubreuil (85%) and has 627 employees (at March 2007).[3]
Air Caraïbes Express uses Travel Technology Interactive's airline management system, Aeropack.
Air Caraibes existed before 1990. They were operating Britten-Norman BN2-A Islander and Cessna Caravan prop aircraft. That year, one of their BN2-A's was sold to a Norwegian parachute club and flown from Guadeloupe to Florida and then to Oslo, Norway.
Destinations
Fleet
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As of April 2017, the Air Caraïbes (including Air Caraïbes Atlantique) fleet consists of the following aircraft:[4]
Air Caraïbes Fleet
| Aircraft | Total | Orders | Passengers | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J | Y+ | Y | Total | ||||
| Airbus A330-200 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 333 | 345 | |
| 12 | 0 | 303 | 315 | ||||
| Airbus A330-300 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 30 | 307 | 355 | Operated by Air Caraïbes Atlantique |
| Airbus A350-900 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 45 | 326 | 389 | Leased from ILFC |
| Airbus A350-1000 | 0 | 3 | TBA | 439[5] | Entering in service: 2020 [5] | ||
| ATR 72-500 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 70 | 70 | F-OIJK, F-OIKH in new livery |
| ATR 72-600 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 74 | Entering in service : December 2016[6][7] |
| Total | 12 | 6 | |||||
Previously operated
Air Caraïbes has operated the following aircraft types:
At August 2006 the airline also operated:[8]
- 1 ATR 72-500
- 2 ATR 42-500
- 2 ATR 72-200
- 1 Embraer ERJ-145 MP
- 1 Embraer 175LR
- 1 Embraer 190LR
- 1 GAF N24A Nomad
- 3 Dornier 228-200 configured for Y19
The airline also operated the following aircraft in the past:[9]
- 1 Cessna Citation configured for Y7
- 3 Cessna 208 Caravan configured for Y9
- 1 DHC-6-300 Twin Otter configured for Y18
Incidents and accidents
- On 7 December 1999, a Beechcraft 1900D crashed onto a mountain near Belle-Anse, Haiti. All 20 people on board were killed.
- On 24 March 2001, Air Caraïbes Flight 1501 crashed onto a house while on approach to Saint Barthélemy Airport in Guadeloupe with 17 passengers and 2 crews. Everyone on board perished. One person on the ground died in the subsequent fire. The investigation concluded that the crash was caused by the pilot's error in managing the thrust lever. The report blamed the crew for accidentally entered the thrust to BETA range.[10]
References
- 1 2 Norwood, Tom; Wegg, John (2002). North American Airlines Handbook (3rd ed.). Sandpoint, ID: Airways International. ISBN 0-9653993-8-9.
- ↑ "Legal Notice Archived 2010-07-14 at the Wayback Machine.." Air Caraïbes. Retrieved on 24 June 2010.
- 1 2 Flight International 27 March 2007
- ↑ "Air Caraïbes explose ses résultats avec des bénéfices record". May 9, 2016.
- 1 2 http://www.businesstravel.fr/air-caraib2-premiers-vols-en-a350-en-2016-2017.html
- ↑ "Le F-OSIX bientôt dans le ciel antillais" [Soon F-OSIX in the Caribbean sky]. www.la1ere.francetvinfo.fr (in French). 13 December 2016.
- ↑ "Air Caraïbes takes delivery of its first ATR 72-600". www.atraircraft.com. 14 December 2016.
- ↑ Flight International, 3–9 October 2006
- ↑ North American Airlines Handbook published by Airways International Inc 1997
- ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-11-20. Retrieved 2014-11-13.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Air Caraïbes. |
- Air Caraïbes (in French)
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