Gum Air is a Surinamese airline based at

Zorg en Hoop Airport Zorg en Hoop Airport is an airport serving general aviation in the city of Paramaribo, Suriname. It is west of the Suriname River, between the city quarters of Zorg en Hoop and Flora. The runway length includes a displaced threshold on Runway ...

Paramaribo, Suriname Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's po ...

. Gum Air cooperates with

Trans Guyana Airways Trans Guyana Airways Limited is a Guyanese airline which commenced operations in 1956 in Georgetown, Guyana, with a single float airplane. Since then, the company has expanded their fleet to provide domestic and regional transportation, and to ...

to provide daily flights between Zorg en Hoop Airport (ORG) in Paramaribo, Suriname and Ogle Airport (OGL) in

Georgetown, Guyana Georgetown is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Guyana. It is situated in Demerara-Mahaica, region 4, on the Atlantic Ocean coast, at the mouth of the Demerara River. It is nicknamed the "Garden City of the Caribbean." It is t ...

History

Gum Air was founded in 1971 by six brothers of the Gummels family. The company they started in March 1964 was agriculture airspray company named

Surinam Sky Farmers Surinam may refer to: * Surinam (Dutch colony) (1667–1954), Dutch plantation colony in Guiana, South America * Surinam (English colony) Surinam, also known as Willoughbyland, was a short-lived early English colony in South America in what is no ...

and Gum Air its offspring focused more on domestic flights and regional charters. Whereas Surinam Sky Farmers has its base in the rice district of Nickerie at the

Wageningen Airstrip Wageningen Airstrip is north of Wageningen, in the Nickerie District of Suriname. Heavily used for cropdusting agriculture flights in this rice region of the country. Homebase of the Surinam Sky Farmers Airlines and destinations Airlines, Cha ...

together with Overeem Air Service maintaining

Grumman Ag Cat The Grumman G-164 Ag Cat is a single-engined biplane agricultural aircraft, developed by Grumman in the 1950s. Development In 1955, Grumman preliminary design engineers Joe Lippert and Arthur Koch proposed the design for a "purpose-built" cr ...

aircraft, Gum Air has set up its domestic airline at the Zorg en Hoop Airport in the city.

Current operation

Gum Air has its base at Zorg en Hoop airfield in the capital city Paramaribo and now mainly flies with single engine

Cessna Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing c ...

airplanes and twin-engined

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. Gum Air also owns dedicated Heliport, Gummels Heliport Paramaribo, built in

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

at the Gummelsweg in the neighborhood of

Kwatta Kwatta is a resort in Suriname, located in the Wanica District. Its population at the 2012 census was 14,151. Kwatta is named after a former cocoa plantation located here. It used to be an agriculture area, but due to its close proximity of Para ...

near the city of

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's ...

, Suriname. Privately owned by the Gummels family the heliport is mainly used for helicopter charters and primarily for offshore development activities within the country. Besides charter flights within Suriname Gum Air also operates scheduled interior services from Paramaribo to places like

Benzdorp Benzdorp is a village in the Sipaliwini District of Suriname. It is named after the English consul and bullion dealer H.J.W. Benz. Geography The village lies in the jungle of the Tapanahony, Tapanahony resort, near the Lawa River (South America ...

Cottica Cottica Lawa (often called Cottica) is a village in the district of Sipaliwini, Suriname. It is located in the east, along the Marowijne River and the border with French Guiana. The village has a school, and a clinic. History During the 18th c ...

, Gabaka,

Drietabbetje Diitabiki (Sranan Tongo: ''Dritabiki'', Dutch: ''Drietabbetje'') is a Ndyuka village in the Sipaliwini District of Suriname. Diitabiki is the residence of the gaanman of the Ndyuka people, since 1950, and the location of the oracle. Name Both ...

and Stoelmanseiland. Internationally Gum Air has an agreement with

and together they provide regular scheduled flights between Zorg en Hoop Airport, Paramaribo (Suriname) and

Ogle Airport Eugene F. Correia International Airport is located on the Atlantic Ocean coast of Guyana, east of the capital, Georgetown, in the Demerara-Mahaica region. In 2013, LIAT began scheduled passenger airline flights between the airport and Barb ...

of Georgetown (Guyana). Gum Air has flown various unique types of

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a conventional fixed-wing aircraft that has short runway requirements for takeoff and landing. Many STOL-designed aircraft also feature various arrangements for use on airstrips with harsh conditio ...

Short Take Off & Landing aircraft from Suriname in the past such as Dornier DO 28D-1 Skyservant,

GAF Nomad The GAF Nomad is a utility aircraft produced by the Government Aircraft Factories (GAF) of Australia in Melbourne. Supported by the Australian Government, design work began in the mid-1960s, and it made its maiden flight on 23 July 1971. Despi ...

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 also helicopter types such as Agusta-Bell 204B & Bell 206B Jet Ranger II

Future expansion plans

In September 2021 Gum Air placed an order at Cessna for a new Cessna 408 SkyCourier to become the first operator in the Caribbean and Latin America for this new type of twin engine turboprop aircraft planned for delivery in 2023. Gum Air is currently constructing a new 3600-foot runway at its Gummels Heliport Paramaribo, and plans to utilize the SkyCourier for flights between Paramaribo, Georgetown,

Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

, and

Cayenne Cayenne (; ; gcr, Kayenn) is the capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic Oc ...

. The new airport will mainly support the Oil & Gas, and Cargo sectors with charter flights. De Havilland Twin Otter (17544890334)

Fleet

Gum Air today owns a fleet of eight aircraft plus three helicopters, consisting of four types of aircraft varying from five to 19 seats. One Cessna SkyCourier is on order for delivery in 2023.

Accidents and incidents

*On 10 February 2001 Gum Air's

N24A, registered PZ-TBP was written off when it crashed on a flight from Paramaribo – Zanderij

Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport , also known as Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport, and locally referred to simply as JAP, is an airport located in the town of Zanderij and hub for airline carrier Surinam Airways, south of Param ...

(PBM/SMJP) to

Njoeng Jacob Kondre Airstrip Njoeng Jacob Kondre Airstrip is an airstrip serving Njoeng Jacob Kondre, Suriname. Charters and destinations Charter Airlines serving this airport are: Accidents or incidents * On 10 February 2001, Gum Air’s GAF Nomad N24A, registered ...

(ICAO: SMJK). The Nomad plane had lost radio contact. According to personnel at the airstrip in Jacob Kondre it was flying low and crashed into a mountain. All 9 passengers plus the pilot died. *On 21 August 2008 a Gum Air's

Cessna 207 The Cessna 205, 206, and 207, known primarily as the Stationair (and marketed variously as the Super Skywagon, Skywagon and Super Skylane) are a family of single-engined, general aviation aircraft with fixed landing gear, used in commercial air ...

Skywagon, PZ-TRR, ran off the airstrip at Poesoegroenoe Airstrip (ICAO: SMPG) during take-off when engine failure occurred. All 6 people on board survived, with only two slightly injured. *On 22 November 2008 Gum Air's

Cessna 404 Titan The Cessna Model 404 Titan is an American twin-engined, light aircraft built by Cessna Aircraft. It was that company's largest twin piston-engined aircraft at the time of its development in the 1970s. Its US military designation is C-28, and ...

, registered PZ-TVC made a forced landing on the road near Gusterie, Suriname, after engine failures. The aircraft came to rest in the bushes and was reported destroyed. No injuries or fatalities occurred in this accident. *On 15 May 2017 Gum Air's

Cessna 206 The Cessna 205, 206, and 207, known primarily as the Stationair (and marketed variously as the Super Skywagon, Skywagon and Super Skylane) are a family of single-engined, general aviation aircraft with fixed landing gear, used in commercial air ...

Stationair 6 registered PZ-TVU had a landing gear failure during loading at airstrip Kwamalasamutu (ICAO: SMSM). Airplane gear was later repaired and flown back to homebase

*On 28 July 2021 Gum Air's

Stationair 6 registered PZ-TBG crash landed near the former mining area of Paranam in Suriname. This accident occurred following a loss of engine power, four passengers and female pilot survived with minor injuries.

References

External links

{{Commonscat, Gum Air
Official website
Airlines of Suriname Airlines established in 1971 1971 establishments in Suriname Companies of Suriname