| Airline: | Air Antilles |
| Fleet Size: | 4 |
| Destinations: | 3 |
| Iata: | 4I |
| Icao: | KES |
| Callsign: | KARIBEES |
| Parent: | Air Guyane Express |
| Founded: | December 2002 |
| Headquarters: | Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, France |
| Hubs: | Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport |
| Secondary Hubs: | Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport |
Air Antilles is a French airline based at Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport in Guadeloupe, France. It is a regional airline operating scheduled and seasonal services in the French Antilles.
The airline began operations in December 2002 owned by Air Guyane. It is another title for Air Guyane Express's Caribbean operations and both airlines share their call sign, IATA and ICAO codes. The airline uses as its Airline Reservations System Zenith, developed by Travel Technology Interactive, a French-based company.
Air Antilles is the subsidiary of the Guyanese airline Air Guyane.
Air Antilles and Air Guyane are the 2 airlines from the Guadeloupean group CAIRE.
In 2016, the airline changed its name to Air Antilles and introduced a new livery with the delivery of its first ATR 72-600.
In September 2023, the group CAIRE of which both Air Antilles and Air Guyane were a part of was terminated. Air Antilles was set to be brought up by a public-private partnership, while Air Guyane was to be liquidated. Air Antilles is said to resume the selling of tickets online in May 2024, with a reduced service, instead only serving Fort-de-France, Pointe-à-Pitre, Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin. However, there are still plans for their full service to swing back into action in the upcoming year.[1]
| Country | City | Airport | IATA | ICAO | Notes | Refs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Osbourn | V. C. Bird International Airport | ANU | TAPA | Suspended | [2] | ||
| Bridgetown | Grantley Adams International Airport | BGI | TBPB | Suspended | |||
| Marigot | Douglas–Charles Airport | DOM | TDPD | Suspended | |||
| Roseau | Canefield Airport | DCF | TDCF | Suspended | |||
| Punta Cana | Punta Cana International Airport | PUJ | MDPC | (July-August only) | |||
| Santo Domingo | Las Américas International Airport | SDQ | MDSD | Suspended | |||
| Pointe-à-Pitre | Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport | PTP | TFFR | ||||
| Fort-de-France | Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport | FDF | TFFF | ||||
| San Juan | Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport | SJU | TJSJ | Suspended | |||
| Saint-Jean | Gustaf III Airport | SBH | TFFJ | ||||
| Castries | George F.L. Charles Airport | SLU | TLPC | Suspended | |||
| Grand Case | L'Espérance Airport | SFG | TFFG | ||||
| Philipsburg | Princess Juliana International Airport | SXM | TNCM | Suspended | |||
As of July2024, Air Antilles operates the following aircraft:[3]
| Aircraft | In service | Registrations | Passengers | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATR 72-600 | 1 | F-OMYM | 72 | ||
| DHC-6-400 | 1 | HB-LUX | 19 | Leased from Zimex Aviation | |
| Total | 2 | ||||
On August 24, 2023, Air Antilles flight 3S722 veered off of runway 28 at the Saint Barthélemy airport moments after touchdown. The aircraft involved was a DHC-6-400 Twin Otter registered F-OMYS. The Twin Otter then stuck a parked and unoccupied helicopter that had landed 30 minutes prior. While none of the six onboard the Twin Otter were seriously injured, the high speed impact caused substantial damage to both aircraft.[4]
The pilots blamed the loss of directional control on a steering issue. Furthermore, video evidence shows F-OMYS having steering difficulties while taxiing at Saint Barth only ten days prior to the crash.[5]
Air Antilles was temporarily suspended from flying to Saint Barth following the accident.[6]