Winair, an abbreviation of Windward Islands Airways International NV, is a government-owned Dutch

airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in wh ...

based in

Sint 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 ...

. Founded in 1961 by Georges Greaux and Hippolyte Ledee, It has a fleet of seven aircraft serving ten destinations, all within the

Leeward Islands french: Îles-Sous-le-Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Leeward Islands. Clockwise: Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe, Saint kitts and Nevis. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean Sea North Atlantic Ocean , co ...

group of 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 be ...

in the North East Caribbean. It has its headquarters on the grounds of

Princess Juliana International Airport Princess Juliana International Airport is the main airport on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin. The airport is located on the Dutch side of the island, in the country of Sint Maarten, close to the shore of Simpson Bay Lagoon. In 2015, the ...

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 needed short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft to service certain airports such as Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport on

Saba Saba may refer to: Places * Saba (island), an island of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean Sea * Şaba (Romanian for Shabo), a town of the Odesa Oblast, Ukraine * Sabá, a municipality in the department of Colón, Honduras * Saba (river), ...

and began flying

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 ...

s in 1965. The December 1, 1963 Windward Islands Airways timetable lists flights between St. Maarten and Saba operated with STOL-capable Dornier Do-28 aircraft.http://www.timetableimages.com, Dec. 1, 1963 Windward Islands Airways timetable Britten-Norman BN-2A-26 Islander, Winair - Windward Islands Airways JP5823246

Britten-Norman BN-2A-26 Islander, Winair - Windward Islands Airways JP5823246

Agreements

Winair has interline agreements with the following airlines: *

Air Antilles Air Antilles is a French airline based at Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport in Guadeloupe, France. It is a regional airline operating scheduled and seasonal services in the French Antilles. History The airline began operations in Decemb ...

* Air Caraibes *

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British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a populati ...

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Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the List of airlines by foundation date, world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atla ...

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...

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Virgin Atlantic Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, England. The airline was established in 1984 as British Atlantic Airways, and w ...

Winair has code share agreements with the following airlines: *

Destinations

Winair operates services to the following scheduled destinations:

Fleet

The Winair fleet consists of the following aircraft ():

Retired

The airline fleet previously included the following aircraft: In addition to above previously operated aircraft, according to the December 1, 1963 Windward Islands Airways timetable the airline was operating

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 ...

-capable Dornier Do-28 as well as

Piper Apache The Piper PA-23, named Apache and later Aztec, is an American four- to six-seat twin-engined light aircraft aimed at the general-aviation market. The United States Navy and military forces in other countries also used it in small numbers. Origin ...

aircraft.

References

External links

*
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 {{Authority control Airlines of the Netherlands Antilles Airlines of Sint Maarten Airlines established in 1961 1961 establishments in the Netherlands Antilles