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| Founded | September 2002 (as Caribbean Sun Airlines) | ||||||
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| Commenced operations | January 2003 | ||||||
| AOC # | 2WAA860M [1] | ||||||
| Hubs | Miami International Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 7 Aircraft (5 Operational) | ||||||
| Headquarters | Virginia Gardens, Florida, United States | ||||||
| Key people | |||||||
| Website | www | ||||||
Caribbean Sun Airlines Inc., trading as World Atlantic Airlines is an airline in the United States operating on-demand and scheduled charter services. Its corporate headquarters are located in Virginia Gardens, Florida. [2]
The airline was founded in September 2002 as Caribbean Sun Airlines in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and began operations in January 2003 with flights from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico to Tortola, using the Bombardier Dash 8 Q100. On the flights, Caribbean Sun cooperated with the Antiguan sister company Caribbean Star Airlines, which also belonged to the Stanford Financial Group and enabled connecting flights to other Caribbean islands.
Flight operations ceased towards the end of January 2007. The resumption of the same under the name Merengue Airlines Dominicana, which was sought after a subsequent change of ownership was also unsuccessful, and so Caribbean Sun Airlines was finally sold to Tomas Romero, who renamed the company to World Atlantic Airlines. The company, which from then on only operates under this name, then focused on the ACMI charter area. [3]
World Atlantic was one of the charter providers to Myrtle Beach Direct Air until the airline's bankruptcy in 2012, and was fined by the Department of Transportation in 2012 for regulatory violations in connection with this business. [4] Since 2013, World Atlantic has acted as a charter provider to the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation of individuals from the United States and recently per the NY Post delivering immigrants to Westchester, NY. [5] [6] [7]
In April 2013, World Atlantic transported Venezuelan voters from Miami to New Orleans to vote in the Venezuelan presidential election. [8]
In September 2017, World Atlantic Airlines also entered into a partnership with Venezuelan airline Avior Airlines, having previously worked with LASER Airlines as part of the ACMI charter. As part of the business relationship with Avior Airlines, World Atlantic operated ACMI charter flights to Fort Lauderdale and Miami. [9] [10]
In April 2025, multiple aircraft were seized in relation to a $1.8M court judgement against the airline, leaving just two operational for a period of two days. All aircraft were released before news broke of the seizure. [11]
As of March 2025, WAA operates services to the following domestic and international scheduled destinations:
As of August 2025 [update] , World Atlantic Airlines operates the following aircraft: [12]
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F | Y | Total | ||||
| McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | 7 | – | 12 | 134 | 146 | – |
| 8 | 144 | 152 | ||||
| 8 | 147 | 155 | ||||
| Total | 7 | – | ||||
World Atlantic Airlines formerly operated the following aircraft:[ citation needed ]
| Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Replacement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| De Havilland Canada Dash 8-100 | 12 | 2003 | 2007 | MD-80 Family | |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | 1 | 2011 | 2019 | ||
| Airbus A320-200 | 1 | 2024 | 2025 | Wet-Leased. |
