Maya Island Air (also known as Maya Airways) is an

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

with its head office on the second floor of Building #1 of Belize City Municipal Airport in

Belize City Belize City is the largest city in Belize and was once the capital of the former British Honduras. According to the 2010 census, Belize City has a population of 57,169 people in 16,162 households. It is at the mouth of the Haulover Creek, wh ...

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

. It operates regular scheduled flights to 11 destinations within Belize and chartered flights to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

, and

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

. Its main base is the

Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport is an airport that serves the nation of Belize's largest city, Belize City along the eastern coast of Central America. It was named after politician Philip S. W. Goldson, who died in 2001. The airp ...

History

The airline was formed and started operations in 1962 as Maya Airways. It was established to succeed the government-owned British Honduras Airways, a

BWIA BWIA West Indies Airways Limited, known locally as "Bee-Wee" and also as British West Indian Airways and BWIA International, was the national airline based in Trinidad and Tobago. At the end of operations, BWIA was the largest airline operating o ...

subsidiary, which had ceased operations in 1961. In December 1997 Maya Airways and Island Air merged to form Maya Island Air. In November 2007 all airlines from Belize lost their permission to land in

due to Guatemala's upgrade to category 1. Later on, Maya Island Air flew to Guatemala again. From July 8, 2009, to May 2011, it also flew Belize City-Cancun.

Destinations

Maya Island Air operates the following services (at November 2018): *

(

and Belize City Municipal Airport) ** Caye Caulker **

Caye Chapel Caye Chapel is a small, private island in Belize, north-northeast of Belize City and south of Caye Caulker. It was once owned by Isaiah Emmanuel Morter, Belize's first African millionaire. Caye Chapel is adjacent to the Bacalar Chico Nat ...

** Corozal ** Dangriga **

Placencia Placencia is a small village located in the Stann Creek District of Belize. History Prior to the European colonization of the Americas, the Placencia Peninsula was inhabited by the Maya. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Maya in this area ...

** Punta Gorda ** San Pedro Town ** Savannah Station (

Stann Creek District Stann Creek District is a district in the south east region of Belize. According to the 2010 census, the district had a population of 32,166 people. Its capital is the town of Dangriga, formerly known as "Stann Creek Town." Stann comes from "stan ...

)

Fleet

Maya Island Air Cessna 208 at Dangriga Airport

The Maya Island Air fleet consists of the following aircraft (): *3 Britten-Norman BN2A Islander *1 Cessna 182S *8

Cessna 208B Caravan The Cessna 208 Caravan is a utility aircraft produced by Cessna. The project was commenced on November 20, 1981, and the prototype first flew on December 9, 1982. The production model was certified by the FAA in October 1984 and its Cargoma ...

*1 Gippsland GA-8 Airvan

Accidents and incidents

* December 4, 2007, a Maya Island Air Cessna 208B Caravan V3-HFS was taking off from

Corozal Airport Corozal Airport is an airport that serves Corozal, Belize. It is located at the south entrance of Corozal, in Ranchito village, and is therefore known as Ranchito Airport. Airlines and Destinations Passenger See also * * *Transport in Belize ...

for a flight to

San Pedro Airport John Greif II Airport is an airport that serves San Pedro and Ambergris Caye, Belize. It was renamed from San Pedro Airport to John Greif II Airport in 2010. Airlines and destinations See also *Transport in Belize *List of airports in Beliz ...

, when the pilots aborted takeoff but were not able to stop the airplane on the remaining runway. The Grand Caravan struck a barbed wire fence and ran into several orange trees before coming to a halt some 520 feet beyond the runway. The undercarriage was sheared off and the airplane sustained substantial damage to the belly. None of the 12 passengers and crew were killed or injured in the accident.http://www.ambergristoday.com/html/archives.php?p=122007

References

External links

Maya Island Air
{{Portalbar, Belize, Companies, Aviation Airlines of Belize Airlines established in 1962 Belize City 1962 establishments in British Honduras Belizean brands