Winair

Winair (short for Windward Islands Airways International NV) is a government-owned Dutch regional airline based in Sint Maarten. Founded in 1961 by Georges Greaux and Hippolyte Ledee, It has a fleet of six aircraft serving twelve destinations, mostly within the Leeward Islands group of the Lesser Antilles in the North East Caribbean. It has its headquarters on the grounds of Princess Juliana International Airport. Since 1 March 2023, it has been a part of the Flying Blue frequent flyer programme.

History

Windward Islands Airways was founded in 1961 by Georges Greaux with additional investments from Hipployte Ledee, Chester Wathey, Louis Richardson, and a handful of others. The airline required short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft to service certain airports such as Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport on Saba. The December 1, 1963, Windward Islands Airways timetable lists flights between St. Maarten and Saba operated with STOL-capable Dornier Do-28 aircraft. Winair began flying de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters in January of 1967.

Destinations

Winair operates services to the following scheduled destinations:

Codeshare agreements

Winair has interline and codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

Fleet

Current Fleet

The Winair fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of summer 2024):

Historic Fleet

According to the December 1, 1963 Windward Islands Airways timetable the airline was operating STOL-capable Dornier Do-28 as well as Piper Apache aircraft. Additionally, Winair has perviously operated Britten-Norman BN-2 Islanders, Fokker F-27s, Beech Twin Bonanzas, and NAMC-YS 11s.

See also

• List of airlines of the Netherlands Antilles

References

External links

Media related to Winair at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Landing Saba WinAir Twin Otter, Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport (TNCS / SAB) landing video on YouTube
• ✈ Shortest runway in the world ! (HD 1080p) ✔ landing and takeoff video on YouTube