Air Martinique was an airline based in the island of

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

in the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea, forming part of the West Indies in Caribbean, Caribbean region of the Americas. They are distinguished from the larger islands of the Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc w ...

in the Caribbean. Its head office was on the grounds of Fort-de-France Airport, now

Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport (, ) is an international airport of Martinique in the French West Indies. Located in Le Lamentin, a suburb of the capital Fort-de-France, it was opened in 1950 and renamed in 2007, after author an ...

, in

Le Lamentin Le Lamentin (; ; ) is a city and town, located in the French overseas department and region of Martinique. With its area of 62.32 km2, it is the town with the largest area in Martinique. Le Lamentin, with close to 40,000 inhabitants, is the ...

History

Air Martinique was founded in 1974 as Compagnie Antillaise d'Affretments Aériens-CAAA. The official operating name from the early 1980s was Societé Nouvelle Air Martinique (S.N.A.M.). In 1982, Air Martinique was operating regional service in the Caribbean with small

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

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 in the mid-1960s and still in production today. Built by De Havilland Canada from 1965 to 1988, Viking ...

aircraft with scheduled passenger service from

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

Fort-de-France Fort-de-France (, , ; ) is a Communes of France, commune and the capital city of Martinique, an overseas department and region of France located in the Caribbean. History Before it was ceded to France by Spain in 1635, the area of Fort-de-Fra ...

Mustique Mustique is a private island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It is part of the Grenadines, a chain of islands in the West Indies. The island is located within Grenadines Parish, and the closest island is the uninhabited Petite Mustique, ...

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

Saint Vincent (Antilles) Saint Vincent is a volcanic island in the Caribbean. It is the largest island of the country Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and is located in the Caribbean Sea, between Saint Lucia and Grenada. It is composed of partially submerged volcanic ...

and

Union Island Union Island is part of the nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It has a surface of and lies about west-southwest of Barbados within view of the islands of Carriacou and the mainland of Grenada, which lies directly south. Clifton and ...

. The airline had previously operated

Sud Aviation Caravelle The Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle is a French jet airliner produced by Sud Aviation. It was developed by SNCASE in the early 1950s, and made its maiden flight on May 27, 1955. It included some de Havilland designs and components developed for t ...

jet service in the Caribbean region in 1980. In 1993, Air Martinique was operating wide body

McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long-range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 1971 ...

transatlantic service between

and Pointe-a-Pitre in the French Caribbean and

Paris Orly Airport Paris Orly Airport (, ) is one of two international airports serving Paris, France, the other one being Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). It is located partially in Orly and partially in Villeneuve-le-Roi, south of Paris. It serves as a seconda ...

. By 1995, the air carrier was continuing to operate regional services in the Caribbean (using the two letter "PN"

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...

airline code at this time which had replaced the two letter "NN" airline code formerly used by Air Martinique) with flights to its headquarters base at the Fort-de-France airport on Martinique from Pointe-a-Pitre, Saint Lucia, Saint Maarten, Saint Vincent and Union Island operated with

ATR 42 The ATR 42 is a regional airliner produced by Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR (aircraft manufacturer), ATR, with final assembly in Toulouse, France. On 4 November 1981, the aircraft was launched with ATR, as a joint venture between French Aér ...

and

Dornier 228 The Dornier 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft, designed and first manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 until 1998. 245 were built in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. In 1983, Hindustan Aeronautics ...

turboprop aircraft. In 1998, Air Martinique was operating

Boeing 737-200 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retained the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating ...

jet service to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

.https://www.airliners.net, photos of Air Martinique Boeing 737-200 aircraft at Miami International Airport In July 2000, Air Martinique was merged with

Air Guadeloupe Air Guadeloupe was a small France, French international airline with its head office in Les Abymes, Guadeloupe, France. At one time, it was on the property of Le Raizet Airport. Later it was located in the ''Immeuble Le Caducet''. Company history ...

, Air St Barthélémy and Air St Martin to form

Air Caraïbes Air Caraïbes () is a French airline based in the French West Indies, with its headquarters in Les Abymes in Guadeloupe. The airline's main base of operations is at Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport in Guadeloupe, with a focus city at ...

.North American Airlines Handbook published by Airways International Inc 1997

Destinations served in 1997

Air Martinique ATR ATR-42-300 Spijkers-1

*Fort-de-France, Martinique -

Hub *Dominica, Dominica -

Canefield Airport Canefield Airport is an airport on the west coast of the Caribbean Island country, island nation of Dominica. It is north of Roseau, the capital. It is one of only two airports in the island nation of Dominica, the other being Douglas–Charles ...

*Canouan Island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines -

Canouan Airport Canouan Airport is the airport located on the island of Canouan in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The airport serves the surrounding tourist areas and environs of the Grenadines and is a major destination during the Caribbean winter leisure s ...

*Port-au-Prince, Haiti -

Toussaint Louverture International Airport Toussaint Louverture International Airport (, ) is an international airport in Tabarre, a commune of Port-au-Prince in Haiti. The airport is currently the busiest in Haiti and is an operating hub for Sunrise Airways. It is informally called "th ...

*Pointe A Pitre, Guadeloupe -

Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport Guadeloupe Maryse Condé Airport, otherwise known as Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport or ( is an international airport serving Pointe-à-Pitre on the island of Grande-Terre in Guadeloupe, France. The airport is located in Abymes, north- ...

*Grand Case, Saint Martin -

L'Espérance Airport L'Esperance or L'Espérance (French for "The Hope"), may refer to: *L'Espérance (newspaper), Guinean newspaper * L'Esperance, U.S. Virgin Islands *L'Esperance Historic District, U.S. Virgin Islands * ''L'Espérance'' (ship), a French privateer shi ...

*Castries, Saint Lucia - George F. L. Charles Airport *St Vincent, St. Vincent and The Grenadines - E.T. Joshua Airport *Saint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles -

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 ...

*Union Island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines -

Union Island Airport Union Island Airport is the airport serving Union Island, Grenadines Parish, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenadines Parish, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It is located about from the town of Clifton, Union Island, Clifton, one of the c ...

Fleet

Air Martinique operated the following aircraft types at various times during its existence:

References

External links

Fleet and Code DataAccident/Incident reportPhotos at AirlinersNet
{{Airlines of France Air Caraïbes Airlines of Martinique Defunct airlines of France Airlines established in 1974 Airlines disestablished in 2000 French companies established in 1974 French companies disestablished in 2000 2000 mergers and acquisitions

History

Destinations served in 1997

Fleet

See also

References

External links