Air Antilles (4I, Pointe à Pitre) began in-house flight operations with an owned ATR72-600 on Monday, July 22, flying from Fort de France to Pointe à Pitre, and then continuing to St. Martin, ADS-B data revealed.
The company had previously launched operations using a DHC-6-400, wet-leased from the Swiss company Zimex Aviation (XM, Zurich).
The new iteration of the Guadeloupe-based carrier had to postpone its in-house debut by a week due to a lack of pilot certification, as reported by ch-aviation. Additionally, local media reported that the nascent airline has been under pressure from legacy debts left by its defunct predecessor, Air Antilles (2016).
According to its website, Air Antilles' in-house fleet consists of four aircraft, including two ATR72-600s, one ATR42-600, and one DHC-6-400. However, only one ATR72, F-OMYM (msn 1374), is active. Two airframes, F-OMYN (msn 1497), and F-OIXO (msn 1010), are parked at Ben Slimane, and one F-OMYR (msn 969) is stored at Pointe à Pitre.
F-OMYM is a 7.6-year-old aircraft with 72 economy seats. It was delivered to the previous Air Antilles in January 2017.
