Air Martinique was an airline based in the island of

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

in the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles ( es, link=no, Antillas Menores; french: link=no, Petites Antilles; pap, Antias Menor; nl, Kleine Antillen) are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most of them are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc betwe ...

in the Caribbean. Its head office was on the grounds of Fort-de-France Airport, now Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport, in Le Lamentin.

History

Air Martinique was founded in 1974 as Compagnie Antillaise d'Affretments Aériens-CAAA. The official operating name from the early 1980s was Societé Nouvelle Air Martinique (S.N.A.M.). In 1982, Air Martinique was operating regional service in the Caribbean with small

Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander The Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander is a British light utility aircraft and regional airliner designed and originally manufactured by Britten-Norman of the United Kingdom. Still in production, the Islander is one of the best-selling commercial air ...

and

de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restarted ...

aircraft with scheduled passenger service from

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

Fort-de-France Fort-de-France (, , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Fodfwans) is a Communes of France, commune and the capital city of Martinique, an overseas department and region of France located in the Caribbean. It is also one of the major cities in the ...

, Mustique,

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...

Saint Vincent (Antilles) Saint Vincent is a volcanic island in the Caribbean. It is the largest island of the country Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and is located in the Caribbean Sea, between Saint Lucia and Grenada. It is composed of partially submerged volcanic ...

and Union Island. The airline had previously operated

Sud Aviation Caravelle The Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle is a French jet airliner produced by Sud Aviation. It was developed by SNCASE in the early 1950s and made its maiden flight on 27 May 1955. It included some de Havilland designs and components developed for t ...

jet service in the Caribbean region in 1980. In 1993, Air Martinique was operating wide body

McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long- range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 1971 ...

transatlantic service between

and Pointe-a-Pitre in the French Caribbean and

Paris Orly Airport Paris Orly Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Orly), commonly referred to as Orly , is one of two international airports serving the French capital, Paris, the other one being Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). It is located partially in Orly an ...

. By 1995, the air carrier was continuing to operate regional services in the Caribbean (using the two letter "PN"

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...

airline code at this time which had replaced the two letter "NN" airline code formerly used by Air Martinique) with flights to its headquarters base at the Fort-de-France airport on Martinique from Pointe-a-Pitre, Saint Lucia,

Saint Maarten Sint Maarten () is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the northe ...

, Saint Vincent and Union Island operated with

ATR 42 The ATR 42 is a regional airliner produced by Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR, with final assembly in Toulouse, France. On 4 November 1981, the aircraft was launched with ATR, as a joint venture between French Aérospatiale (now Airbus) and ...

and

Dornier 228 The Dornier 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft, designed and first manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 until 1998. Two hundred and forty-five were built in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. In 19 ...

turboprop aircraft. In 1999, Air Martinique was operating Boeing 737-200 jet service to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. In July 2000, Air Martinique was merged with Air Guadeloupe, Air St Barthélémy and Air St Martin to form

Air Caraïbes Air Caraïbes () 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 Mar ...

.North American Airlines Handbook published by Airways International Inc 1997

Destinations served in 1997

*FDF - Fort-de-France, Martinique - now Martinique Aime Cesaire International Airport (''headquarters and main base for the airline'') *DCF - Dominica, Dominica - Canefield Airport *CIW - Canouan Island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines -

Canouan Airport Canouan Airport is the airport located on the island of Canouan in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The airport serves the surrounding tourist areas and environs of the Grenadines and is a major destination during the Caribbean winter leisure s ...

*PAP - Port-au-Prince, Haiti -

Toussaint Louverture International Airport Toussaint Louverture International Airport ( ht, Ayewopò Entènasyonal Tousen Louvèti, french: Aéroport International Toussaint Louverture) is an international airport in Tabarre, a commune of Port-au-Prince in Haiti. The airport is current ...

*PTP - Pointe A Pitre, Guadeloupe -

Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport or Pointe-à-Pitre Le Raizet Airport (french: link=no, Aérodrome de Pointe-à-Pitre Le Raizet or ''Aéroport Guadeloupe Pôle Caraïbes'' "Caribbean Hub") is an international airport serving Pointe-à-Pitr ...

*SFG - Grand Case, Saint Martin -

L'Espérance Airport L'Esperance or L'Espérance (French for "The Hope"), may refer to: * L'Espérance (newspaper), Guinean newspaper * L'Esperance, U.S. Virgin Islands, settlement * ''L'Espérance'' (ship), a French privateer ship captured in the action of 30 Septemb ...

*SLU - Castries, Saint Lucia - George F. L. Charles Airport *SVD - St Vincent, St. Vincent and The Grenadines -

E.T. Joshua Airport E.T. Joshua Airport , formerly known as Arnos Vale Airport, was an airport located in Arnos Vale, near Kingstown, on the island of Saint Vincent. The airport was named for Ebenezer Theodore Joshua, the first chief minister of Saint Vincent an ...

*SXM - Saint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles - Princess Juliana International Airport *UNI - Union Island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines - Union Island Airport

Fleet

Air Martinique operated the following aircraft types at various times during its existence: Sud SE-210 Caravelle VI-R, Air Martinique AN1915912

*5 - ATR 42-300 *1 - ATR 42-500 *1 -

*? - Boeing 737-200 *2 - SE 210 Caravelle VI-R *? -

series 300 http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/pn/pn8207/pn8207i.jpg *3 - Dornier 228-202K *1 - Fokker F27-100 Friendship *1 - Fairchild Hiller FH-227B *2 -

References

External links

Fleet and Code DataAccident/Incident reportPhotos at AirlinersNet
{{Airlines of France Air Caraïbes Airlines of Martinique Defunct airlines of France Airlines established in 1974 Airlines disestablished in 2000 French companies established in 1974 French companies disestablished in 2000