History of Air Caraibes

  • In July 2000, Air Caraibes was founded by Jean-Paul Dubreuil as part of Groupe Dubreuil. After selling his company Regional Airline to Air France, Jean-Paul Dubreuil decided to reinvest in the West Indies and acquired Air Guadeloupe, which merged with Air Martinique, Air St Barthélémy and Air St Martin to form Air Caraibes, an airline to serve then only the islands of the Caribbean.
  • In December 2003, Air Caraibes launched its first transatlantic flights with its first Airbus A330-200 aircraft, connecting Paris-Orly Sud with Guadeloupe and Martinique.
  • In 2004-2006, two long-haul aircraft joined Air Caraibes fleet, the second Airbus A330 200 and the first A330 300.
  • In December 2008, Air Caraibes launched its third transatlantic route, Paris – Cayenne (French Guiana).
  • In 2009, Air Caraibes extended its network with the launch of the TGV AIR service, linking all France to the Caribbean, and new transatlantic flights between Paris and Saint-Martin and Port-au-Prince (Haiti).
  • In March 2012, Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) became Air Caraibes sixth transatlantic destination.
  • In 2014, the addition of Brussels Midi station to the TGV AIR network made possible the connection with the French Caraibes through Paris Orly.
  • In 2015, Air Caraibes launched navigAIR, a new service that offers an air-sea link between Paris and three Caribbean islands, Marie-Galante, Dominica, and Les Saintes.
  • In 2016, AIr Caraibes inaugurated two new transatlantic routes between Paris and San Salvador (Les Bahamas) and Havana (Cuba). The airline also added to its fleet the first ATR 72 600 aircraft.
  • In February 2017, Air Caraibes took delivery of its first Airbus A350 900 aircraft, becoming the first French airline and the 11th worldwide to operate the A350 XWB aircraft. The second Airbus A350 900 aircraft was delivered in March. Air Caraibes’ Airbus A350 900 aircraft has a three-class configuration with 18 Business seats, 45 Premium Economy seats, and 326 Economy seats.
  • In June 2017, Air Caraibes expanded its transatlantic network to 10 destinations by inaugurating the Paris – Punta Cana route.
  • In August 2018, Air Caraibes completed the modernization of its Airbus A330 fleet. All six Airbus A330 aircraft have been refitted with new HD touchscreens, more comfortable and wider leather seats and each seat with an outlet.
  • By the end of 2019, Air Caraibes will add two new aircraft in its fleet, the third Airbus A350 900 and the first Airbus A350 1000.
  • Since its foundation, Air Caraibes had only one deadly accident in 2001, when a DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft that was approaching the Saint Barthélemy Airport crashed into a house, killing all people on board, 17 passengers and 2 crew members, but also one person on the ground in the explosions that followed.