Int'Air Îles was a

regional airline A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...

based at

Ouani Airport Ouani Airport is an airport in Anjouan, Comoros The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is an archipelagic country made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the ...

Anjouan Anjouan () is an autonomous volcanic island in the Comoro Islands in the southwestern Indian Ocean, part of the Comoros, Union of the Comoros. It is known in Comorian languages, Shikomori as Ndzuani, Ndzuwani or Nzwani, and, until the early twentie ...

in the

Comoros The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is an archipelagic country made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Moroni, ...

. It was founded in 2007 as ''Inter Îles Air'' and rebranded to its current name in March 2015. Using a fleet of six

turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...

aircraft, the airline served all three islands of the Comoros, the French territory of

Mayotte Mayotte ( ; , ; , ; , ), officially the Department of Mayotte (), is an Overseas France, overseas Overseas departments and regions of France, department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is one of the Overseas departm ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

, and

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. In February 2024, Int'Air Iles ceased operations. Int'Air Îles is a founding member of the

Vanilla Alliance The Vanilla Alliance () is an airline alliance formed in September 2015. The alliance is the fourth largest in the world as of 2018, trailing Oneworld, Star Alliance, and SkyTeam. All of the airlines within the alliance operate in the Indian Ocea ...

, formed in September 2015 between several airlines based in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

History

Int'Air Îles was founded in 2007 as ''Inter Îles Air''. On 27 November 2012, the airline's sole

Embraer 120 The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop 30-passenger commuter airliner designed and manufactured by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The EMB 120 began development during 1974. While initially conceived as a modular series o ...

made a

water landing In aviation, a water landing is, in the broadest sense, an aircraft landing on a body of water. Seaplanes, such as floatplanes and flying boats, land on water as a normal operation. Ditching is a controlled emergency landing on the water su ...

shortly after takeoff from Moroni Airport; all 29 occupants of the aircraft were rescued. Inter Îles Air suspended operations until 18 May 2013, resuming flights with a new

Saab 340 The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30–36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 differen ...

. In early November 2013, Inter Îles Air sided with Mahoran airline

Ewa Air Ewa Air is a French airline with its corporate head office on the property of Dzaoudzi–Pamandzi International Airport in Pamandzi, Mayotte, near Dzaoudzi Dzaoudzi () is a commune in the French overseas department of Mayotte, in the Indian ...

when the Comorian Government revoked the latter airline's traffic rights to Moroni. The two airlines jointly wrote a letter to the Comorian Ministry of Transport, urging it to return the rights. The dispute was resolved toward the end of the month. Traffic rights were returned to Ewa Air, and Inter Îles Air was permitted to resume flights to

Dzaoudzi Dzaoudzi () is a commune in the French overseas department of Mayotte, in the Indian Ocean. The commune of Dzaoudzi (sometimes called Dzaoudzi-Labattoir ), made up of the twin towns of Dzaoudzi and Labattoir, is located on the small island of P ...

. On 13 March 2015, the airline rebranded as ''Int'Air Îles'' and unveiled a new livery. On 22 June 2015,

required Int'Air Îles to pay an international tax on its flights from the airport to the French island of Mayotte, including 4 million

Comorian franc The franc (; ; sign: FC; ISO 4217 code: KMF) is the official currency of Comoros. It is nominally subdivided into 100 ''centimes'', although no centime denominations have ever been issued. History The French franc became the currency of Comoros ...

s in debt. The airline had previously been paying a domestic tax, eight times lower than the international tax. Ouani Airport said that if Int'Air Îles did not pay off the debt before 29 June, it would be banned from the airport. The airline refused to pay, citing the fact that the Comorian government considers Mayotte an island of the

and thus a domestic destination; Int'Air Îles then suspended all operations. On 1 July the Ministry of Transport announced that Int'Air Îles had been charging higher prices for tickets to Mayotte than to the Comoros; thus they had to make up for it. An agreement was soon reached, with Int'Air Îles settling to pay its debts for April and May and agreeing to start paying the international tax. The airline resumed all flights on 14 July. On 21 September 2015, Int'Air Îles became a founding member of the

, designed to foster cooperation between the airlines of the

and to improve air service in the region. The other founding airlines are

Air Austral Air Austral is a French airline that is also the flag carrier of the Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of Réunion. The airline is based at Roland Garros Airport. It operates scheduled services from Réu ...

Air Madagascar Madagascar Airlines is an airline based in Antananarivo, Madagascar.RE ...

Air Mauritius Air Mauritius is the flag carrier airline of Mauritius. The airline is headquartered in Port Louis, Mauritius, with its Airline hub, hub at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport. History Foundation The company was established on 14 J ...

, and

Air Seychelles Air Seychelles is the national airline of the Republic of Seychelles. Its head office is located at Seychelles International Airport on the island of Mahé and it operates inter-island and international flights and charter flights. History ...

. In December 2016, the French DGCA banned Int'Air Îles from serving Saint-Pierre in Réunion, a French

overseas region The overseas departments and regions of France (, ; DROM) are the five departments and regions of the French Republic which are located outside European France (also known as " metropolitan France"). These overseas entities have exactly the s ...

, because of its security concerns about the Moroni airport. French authorities stated that they would reconsider the ban after visiting the airport in January 2017 to assess the situation. The Comorian transport ministry responded with a ban on French airlines Air Austral and Ewa Air; however, it was rescinded following talks with French officials. On 14 February 2024, the airline ceased operations and subsequently deregistered all its 54 aircraft on 1 May 2024, due to financial difficulties and problems with the Pratt & Whitney engines.

Destinations

Int'Air Îles's website, accessed in January 2017, states that the airline flied to the following destinations:

Fleet

, Int'Air Îles operated two

Cessna 208 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 ...

s, two

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

s and one

Let L-410 Turbolet The Let L-410 Turbolet is a twin-engine short-range transport aircraft designed and produced by the Czech Republic, Czech aircraft manufacturer Aircraft Industries, Let Kunovice (named Aircraft Industries since 2005). It was developed as the ''L ...

. In addition, ch-aviation reported in December 2016 that the airline had acquired a single

Airbus A320-200 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first membe ...

. the airline was operating a

Saab 340B The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30–36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 different ...

aircraft.

Accidents and incidents

* On 27 November 2012, an Int'Air Îles

registered Registered may refer to: * Registered mail, letters, packets or other postal documents considered valuable and in need of a chain of custody * Registered trademark symbol, symbol ® that provides notice that the preceding is a trademark or service ...

D6-HUA was forced to make a

five minutes after takeoff from

Prince Said Ibrahim International Airport Prince Said Ibrahim International Airport (, , AIMPSI) is an international airport serving Moroni in Comoros. It is named after Prince Saïd Ibrahim. It is located north of the village of Hahaya. Airlines and destinations ;Notes : Turkish A ...

in Moroni. Destined for

, the aircraft suffered a fuel leak on takeoff and failed to return to Moroni. All 25 passengers and 4 crew members on board were rescued by local fishermen, and only the pilot suffered minor injuries. The aircraft was then written off, and Int'Air Îles suspended operations for over five months."Crash au large de Moroni : tous les passagers ont survécu"
''Imaz Press Réunion''. 27 November 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2016.

Notes

References

External links

*
Int'Air Îles at ''CAPA - Centre for Aviation''

Int'Air Îles at ''Ch-aviation''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Int'Air Iles Airlines of the Comoros Vanilla Alliance Airlines established in 2007 2007 establishments in the Comoros