Air Inuit ( Inuktitut syllabics: ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᖓᑦᑕᔪᖏᑦ) is an airline based in the

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

borough of Saint-Laurent,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada. It operates domestic passenger services and charter and cargo services in Nunavik,

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

and Nunavut. Its main base is Kuujjuaq Airport.

History

The airline was established and started operations in 1978 using a

de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver The de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver is a single-engined high-wing propeller-driven short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft developed and manufactured by de Havilland Canada. It has been primarily operated as a bush plane and has been use ...

aircraft. The airline is collectively owned by the

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

of Nunavik through the

Makivik Corporation Makivik Corporation ( iu, ᒪᑭᕝᕕᒃ ᑯᐊᐳᕇᓴᑦ, script=, ; french: Société Makivik) is the legal representative of Quebec's Inuit, established in 1978 under the terms of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, the agreement t ...

. In 1984 acquired Chaparal Charters and its fleet of two Twin Otters and one Douglas DC-3. In 2012, Air Inuit relocated their headquarters to a new multi-purpose facility on

Côte-Vertu Boulevard Côte-Vertu Boulevard (french: Boulevard de la Côte-Vertu) is a boulevard in the Saint-Laurent borough in Montreal, Quebec. It crosses the borough from north-east to south-west of the Air Canada Technical Center to the west of the Chomedey High ...

near the

Montréal–Trudeau International Airport Montréal–Trudeau International Airport (french: Aéroport International Montréal-Trudeau) or Montréal–Trudeau, formerly known and still commonly referred to as Montréal–Dorval International Airport (''Aéroport international Montré ...

. In 2016, Air Inuit pilot Melissa Haney became the first female Inuk pilot to reach the rank of captain. She was featured on a commemorative postage stamp released by the Canadian

Ninety-Nines The Ninety-Nines: International Organization of Women Pilots, also known as The 99s, is an international organization that provides networking, mentoring, and flight scholarship opportunities to recreational and professional female pilots. Foun ...

Destinations

Air Inuit operates scheduled services to the following domestic destinations (October 2022):

Scheduled flights

Charters

Air Inuit also offers other charter services to anywhere in North America.

Fleet

As of October 2022, the Air Inuit fleet includes the following aircraft: Air Inuit also has access to a Eurocopter Écureuil (Aerospatiale ASTAR 350) through Nunavik Rotors and a

de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter is a single-engined, high-wing, propeller-driven, short take-off and landing (STOL) aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada. It was conceived to be capable of performing the same roles as the earlier and h ...

through Johnny May's Air Charters. On 1 March 2016, Bombardier Inc. announced that Air Inuit would be the launch customer for the Bombardier Q300 Large Cargo Door freighter.

Accidents and incidents

*On 16 March 1981,

Douglas C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained ...

, C-FIRW, was damaged beyond repair when it broke through the frozen surface of

Lake Bienville Lake Bienville (french: Lac Bienville; cr, apišikamîš) is a lake in western central Quebec in Canada. The lake was named after Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the younger brother of Sieur d'Iberville. The lake has several outlets, drainin ...

while taxiing for take-off on a cargo flight.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Regional airlines of Quebec Airlines established in 1978 Regional airlines of Nunavut Companies based in Montreal Inuit transport Dorval