Jump to content

Air Caraïbes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Air Caraibes)
Not to be confused with AerCaribe.

Air Caraïbes
IATA ICAO Call sign
TX FWI FRENCH WEST
Founded1969; 55 years ago (1969)
(as Société Antillaise de Transport Aérien)[1]
Commenced operationsJuly 2000; 24 years ago (2000-07)
(as Air Caraïbes)[1]
Hubs
Focus citiesFort-de-France
Frequent-flyer programPreference
SubsidiariesAir Caraïbes Atlantique
Fleet size12
Destinations10
Parent companyGroupe Dubreuil
HeadquartersLes Abymes, Guadeloupe, France[2]
Key peopleChristine Ourmières-Widener (President & CEO)
Employees1,105 (2019)[3]
Websitewww.aircaraibes.com

Air Caraïbes (French pronunciation: [kaʁaib]) is a French airline based in the French West Indies, with its headquarters in Les Abymes in Guadeloupe. The airline's main base of operations is at Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport in Guadeloupe, with a focus city at Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport, near Fort-de-France in Martinique. It operates scheduled and charter services in the West Indies, as well as transatlantic flights based at Paris Orly Airport in Metropolitan France.

History

[edit]

The airline was originally established as Société Caribéenne de Transports Aériens, and started operations in September 1994. In 2000, Air Guadeloupe was acquired by Groupe Dubreuil, which had previously established Air Vendée before the airline was acquired by Air France, rebranding it as Regional Airlines.[4] The current Air Caraïbes was founded in July 2000 through the merger of various local airlines Air Guadeloupe, Air Martinique, Air Saint Barthélémy, and Air Saint Martin, and was created in response to the air transport needs of the French Caribbean territories. In 2002, the company flew 445,000 passengers and had €68 million in revenues.

In July 2003, the airline received its first ATR 72-500.[3][5] On 12 December 2003, the airline began services to Orly Airport from Guadeloupe and Martinique using an Airbus A330-200.[3] The transatlantic services were operated under a franchise agreement by Air Caraïbes Atlantique, a jointly run subsidiary airline of Groupe Dubreuil, which was registered in Martinique with its own air operator's certificate, using an ICAO airline designator of "CAJ" and callsign of "CAR LINE".[6][7][8] Its operations were further integrated with and operated under the airline codes of Air Caraïbes at a later date. In June 2006, Air Caraïbes expanded its Airbus A330 fleet in receiving its first Airbus A330-300, and also planned to receive another A330-300 to replace one of its A330s.[9] Air Caraïbes sold one of its Airbus A330-200s to the French Air Force, where it was re-registered and became one of the French presidential planes.[10][11]

On 13 December 2013, Air Caraïbes announced it had ordered the Airbus A350, with a fleet of three A350-900s and three A350-1000s, the first of which were expected to be delivered in 2016 and 2020 respectively.[12] On 14 December 2016, the airline received its first ATR 72-600.[13] The airline received its first A350-900 on 28 February 2017, and its first A350-1000 on 19 December 2019.[14][15] However prior to the delivery of some of the airline's A350s, parent company Groupe Dubreuil allocated some to sister airline French Bee,[16] before ordering additional A350s for both airlines by June 2019.[17]

In 2024, the airline announced further fleet expansion plans with one A350-1000 and two ATR 72-600s to be delivered later in the year.[18][19]

Corporate affairs

[edit]

Air Caraïbes is owned by Groupe Dubreuil (85%) and had 1,105 employees as of 2019.[3] Air Caraïbes uses Travel Technology Interactive's airline management system, Aeropack.

Destinations

[edit]
Main article: List of Air Caraïbes destinations

Air Caraïbes operates both a regional network in the West Indies, and a transatlantic long-haul network based at Paris Orly Airport in France.[20]

Codeshare agreements

[edit]

Air Caraïbes has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:[21]

The airline also codeshares with the SNCF, the French national railway operator.[22] Previously, Air Cara�bes also had codeshare agreements with Aigle Azur until the airline ceased operations in September 2019, and with Corsair International until 26 October 2019.[23][24]

Fleet

[edit]
An Air Cara�bes Airbus A330-200 in the previous livery
An Air Cara�bes Airbus A350-900 in the current livery

Current fleet

[edit]

As of December 2021, the Air Cara�bes fleet (including Air Caraibes Atlantique) consists of the following aircraft:[25][26]

Air Cara�bes fleet
Aircraft In
service 		Orders Passengers Notes
J W Y Total
Airbus A330-200 1 — 12 24 267 303
Airbus A330-300 2 — 12 35 307 354
Airbus A350-900 3 — 18 45 326 389
Airbus A350-1000 3 1[19] 24 45 360 429
ATR 72-600 3 2[18] — — 74 74
Total 12 3

Former fleet

[edit]
A former Air Cara�bes ATR 72-500
A former Dornier 228 in Air Cara�bes livery

Air Cara�bes and its franchised partners have operated the following aircraft types. It does not include aircraft types that were retired by its predecessor airlines prior to being merged to form Air Cara�bes.[27][28]

Air Cara�bes former fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Notes
Airbus A330-200 1 2003 2009 Sold to French Air Force.
ATR 42-300 2 1986 1999
ATR 42-500 2 1997 2007
ATR 72-200 2 2000 2004
ATR 72-500 4 2000 2020
Boeing 737-300 1 2000 2001 Leased from Islandsflug
Cessna 208 Caravan 5 Un�known Un�known Operated by Air Cara�bes Express[8]
de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 3 Un�known Un�known One crashed as Flight 1501.
Dornier 228 2 Un�known Un�known Operated by Air Cara�bes Express and Take Air[8]
Embraer ERJ-145 2 2000 2008
Embraer ERJ-175 1 2006 2008
Embraer ERJ-190 1 2007 2013

Accidents and incidents

[edit]
  • On 24 March 2001, Air Cara�bes Flight 1501 crashed into a house while on approach to Gustaf III Airport in Saint Barth�lemy with 17 passengers and 2 crew members. All occupants were killed. One person on the ground was killed 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 entering the thrust into BETA range.[29]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Norwood, Tom; Wegg, John (2002). North American Airlines Handbook (3rd ed.). Sandpoint, ID: Airways International. ISBN 0-9653993-8-9. Archived from the original on 28 November 2016.
  2. ^ "Legal Notices". Air Cara�bes. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d "Air Cara�bes en chiffres" [Air Cara�bes in figures]. Air Cara�bes. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  4. ^ "A Dubreuil Group company". Air Cara�bes. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  5. ^ "Elegance: a touch of class from Air Caraibes". FlightGlobal. DVV Media International Limited. 14 June 2003. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  6. ^ "Enterprise Air Caraibes Atlantique au Lamentin (97232)" [Company Air Caraibes Atlantique in Lamentin (97232)]. Le Figaro (in French). 10 September 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  7. ^ "Air Caraibes Atlantique code and information". AirportDatabase.net. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  8. ^ a b c "Air Caraibes S.a." Routesonline. Informa Markets. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  9. ^ "Air Cara�bes signs for an additional A330-300" (Press release). Airbus S.A.S. 18 July 2006. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  10. ^ "INFO LE POINT.FR : Le premier palais volant de Nicolas Sarkozy livr� vendredi � Villacoublay, actualit� D�fense ouverte : Le Point". archive.wikiwix.com. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  11. ^ "F-RARF Arm�e de l'Air (French Air Force) Airbus A330-200". www.planespotters.net. 19 June 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  12. ^ Coffre, Alain (12 December 2013). "Air Cara�bes: premiers vols en A350 en 2016-2017" [Air Cara�bes: first A350 flights in 2016-2017]. Business Traveller France (in French). Archived from the original on 20 February 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  13. ^ "Air Cara�bes takes delivery of its first ATR 72-600" (Press release). ATR, Avions de Transport R�gional. 14 December 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  14. ^ "Air Cara�bes takes delivery of its first A350-900, opening up a new era in air transport to the French Caribbean" (Press release). Airbus S.A.S. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  15. ^ "First Airbus A350-1000 joins Air Cara�bes' fleet" (Press release). Airbus S.A.S. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  16. ^ Gliszczynski, Fabrice (16 March 2016). "La low-cost long-courrier French Blue fait des vagues chez Air Cara�bes" [The low-cost long-haul carrier French Blue is making waves with Air Cara�bes]. La Tribune (in French). Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  17. ^ "Air Lease Corporation Announces Lease Placement of Three New Airbus A350-900 and One New Airbus A350-1000 Aircraft with Air Cara�bes and FrenchBee". Aviator.aero. 16 June 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  18. ^ a b Massy-Beresford, Helen (2 May 2024). "Air Caraibes To Add Two ATRs To Strengthen Regional Fleet". Aviation Week Network. Informa Markets. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  19. ^ a b Massy-Beresford, Helen (10 July 2024). "Air Cara�bes Explores Expanding Long-Haul Fleet, Regional Flying". Aviation Week Network. Informa Markets. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  20. ^ "Destination Map". Air Cara�bes. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  21. ^ "Nos accords a�riens" [Our air agreements]. Air Cara�bes (in French). Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  22. ^ "L'offre Train + Air" [Train + Air offer]. Air Cara�bes (in French). Archived from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  23. ^ "Partenariat a�rien" [Airline partnership]. Air Cara�bes (in French). Archived from the original on 14 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  24. ^ Fabi, Serge (27 July 2019). "Air Cara�bes et Corsair arr�tent leur partage de codes sur les Antilles" [Air Cara�bes and Corsair end their codesharing to the Antilles] (in French). Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  25. ^ "Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One)". Airliner World (October 2019): 14.
  26. ^ "La Flotte" [The fleet]. Air Cara�bes (in French). Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  27. ^ North American Airlines Handbook published by Airways International Inc 1997
  28. ^ "Air Caraibes Fleet Details and History". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  29. ^ "bea-fr.org" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
[edit]

Media related to Air Cara�bes at Wikimedia Commons

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Air_Caraïbes&oldid=1250448578"