Air St. Thomas

Last updated

Air St. Thomas was an airline based on the island of St. Thomas, in the United States Virgin Islands. It operated regular and charter passenger services. Its main base was Cyril E. King Airport, St Thomas. [1] It ceased operations in December 2005. The company, founded in 1975, was banned in March 2004 on the French airports and is since then blacklisted. This commuter air carrier had a very small fleet and did not operate long haul routes.

Contents

Code data

History

[ citation needed ]

The airline was established in 1970 and was known as Virgin Air until 1984. Through the 1970s and well into the 1990s, Air St. Thomas faced stiff competition from Puerto Rico International Airlines, Aero Virgin Islands and Vieques Air Link, among others. Because of this, the airline concentrated mainly on intra island flights.

Puerto Rico International Airlines (Prinair) flew from 1966 to 1984, and Aero Virgin Islands flew until 2000. While Vieques Air Link still operates, Air St. Thomas did not directly compete with it as Vieques Air Link did not serve St. Thomas. One of Air St. Thomas largest competitors was American Eagle. American Eagle in the Caribbean was a code sharing partner for American Airlines and its hub operations at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU) have been since shut down and are no longer being operated on behalf of American in the region.

After Puerto Rico International Airlines and Aero Virgin Islands began to slowly pull away from the market, Air St. Thomas began to grow, adding flights, specifically to Puerto Rican airports as well as other regional destinations in the Caribbean. The airline officially became an international airline when it added flights to the British Virgin Islands. The airline was owned by Paul Wikander (51%) and M. Wikander (49%).

Destinations

[ citation needed ]

Air St. Thomas served the following destinations in January 2005: Culebra, Fajardo, San Juan and Virgin Gorda. The main route was between St.Thomas and St.Barthlemey F.W.I up till 2004.

Fleet

See also

Related Research Articles

Transportation in Puerto Rico includes a system of roads, highways, freeways, airports, ports and harbors, and railway systems, serving a population of approximately 4 million year-round. It is funded primarily with both local and federal government funds.

Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport Airport near San Juan, Puerto Rico

Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport is a joint civil-military international airport named for Puerto Rico's first democratically elected governor and located in suburban Carolina, Puerto Rico, three miles southeast of San Juan. It is the busiest airport in the Caribbean region by passenger traffic. Over 4 million passengers board a plane at the airport per year according to the Federal Aviation Administration, making it the 48th busiest airport overseen by said federal agency.

Prinair Puerto Rican airline company

Prinair is a Puerto Rican charter operator airline. It was Puerto Rico's domestic and international flag carrier airline for almost two decades from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s. Despite previously ceasing scheduled commercial operations twice, it restarted charter flights in 2019.

Vieques Air Link is a small Puerto Rico-based airline that links Vieques with Culebra and mainland Puerto Rico.

Culebra Air Services Puerto Rican airline company

Culebra Air Services, established in 1998 as Air Culebra, is a small Puerto Rican airline company that operates out of the island of Culebra, in Puerto Rico, and the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, in San Juan. As of 2015, the airline is owned by pilot, captain Matthew Mulvey.

Rafael Hernández Airport Airport in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico

Rafael Hernández International Airport is a joint civil-military airport located in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. It is named after the Puerto Rican composer Rafael Hernández Marín. It is Puerto Rico's second largest international airport in terms of passenger movement. It is located in Porta del Sol tourist region, in Puerto Rico's west coast. It is also home to Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen and to the Caribbean Branch of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations.

Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport Airport on the island of Vieques in Puerto Rico

Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport is a public airport on the island of Vieques in Puerto Rico. Because a large amount of Vieques's yearly revenue comes from the tourism industry, this airport plays an important part in the Vieques economy. For decades, the airport has been the hub of Vieques Air Link, and also a destination for a number of small airlines.

Aero Virgin Islands

Aero Virgin Islands was an airline based in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.

Oceanair Regional airline that was based in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Oceanair was a regional airline that was based at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It competed on domestic routes with Prinair; and on routes to the Virgin Islands with Prinair and with Aero Virgin Islands; using propeller-driven aircraft.

George F. L. Charles Airport Airport in Saint Lucia

George F. L. Charles Airport is the smaller of the two airports in Saint Lucia, the other being Hewanorra International Airport. It is located 2 km (1.2 mi) north of Castries, the capital city. George F. L. Charles Airport is managed by the Saint Lucia Air and Seaports Authority (SLASPA). Its runway runs parallel to a pristine beach, Vigie Beach, which is a popular tourist attraction.

Dorado Wings was a small commuter airline that operated from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico to Dorado Airport in the tourist center of Dorado. Dorado Wings was the only commercial operator at Dorado Airport. Dorado Wings existed from 1964 to 1982. In early 1981, the airline was purchased and its name was changed to Crown Air which operated until 1988.

LIAT Airline in Antigua and Barbuda

LIAT (1974) Ltd, formerly known as Leeward Islands Air Transport Services and operating as LIAT, is a regional airline headquartered in Antigua and Barbuda that operated high-frequency inter-island scheduled services to 15 destinations in the Caribbean. The airline's main base was V.C. Bird International Airport, Antigua and Barbuda, with a secondary base at Grantley Adams International Airport, Barbados.

Seaborne Virgin Island Inc, trading as Seaborne Airlines, is a FAR Part 121 airline headquartered in Carolina, Puerto Rico, near the territory's capital of San Juan. It operates both seaplane services between St. Croix and St. Thomas, as well as landplane services from its hub and headquarters at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport to Caribbean destinations. Originally headquartered on St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands, the company relocated to Puerto Rico in 2014.

Executive Airlines Former regional airline headquartered in Carolina, Puerto Rico

Executive Airlines, Inc. was a regional airline headquartered in Carolina, Puerto Rico. Effective April 1, 2013 Executive Airlines was continuing to do business in the Caribbean and Bahamas as an aircraft ground handling company, providing services to various airlines in the region, after it had ceased operating scheduled passenger flights with ATR turboprop aircraft as an American Eagle air carrier on behalf of American Airlines via a code sharing agreement providing passenger feed at the former American Airlines hub located at the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU) located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Air Sunshine Airline of the United States

Air Sunshine is an airline based in the United States and in Puerto Rico. It operates scheduled service to and from San Juan and Vieques, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, Anguilla, Dominica, Sint Maarten, Nevis, St. Kitts, Tortola and Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands and Saint Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Its main base is Fort Lauderdale, with a Caribbean hub located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Northern Air Cargo Airline of the United States

Northern Air Cargo, LLC (NAC) is an American cargo airline based in Anchorage, Alaska, USA. NAC operates a small fleet of Boeing 737-300s and Boeing 737-400 freighter aircraft within the state of Alaska as well as widebody Boeing 767-300 freighter services throughout the Caribbean and South America. Other services include aircraft maintenance services through its subsidiary, Northern Air Maintenance Services, on demand charters and consolidation of cargo. With a main base at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, NAC also operates out of a hub at Miami International Airport. NAC is a division of Saltchuk which is the corporate parent of a number of transportation and distribution companies including Aloha Air Cargo, a cargo airline based in Hawaii.

Caribair (Puerto Rico) Former airline based in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Caribair was a Puerto Rican airline based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, that served over a dozen destinations in the Caribbean as well as Miami. In 1970, the air carrier was serving 16 destinations on 14 Caribbean islands, plus Miami. The airline offered McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jet service via a number of intermediate stops including San Juan (SJU) for its direct flight services between Miami (MIA) and Port of Spain, Trinidad. Caribair was also the first Puerto Rico-based airline to operate jet aircraft on scheduled passenger services. The air carrier was acquired by Eastern Air Lines in 1973.

Air Flamenco is a commuter airline operated by Air Charter, Inc., based in Puerto Rico.

Puertorriqueña de Aviación, previously known as Aerovías Nacionales de Puerto Rico was an airline company that operated during the 1930s. It was the first documented attempt by Puerto Ricans to have a flag carrier in the country.

Air Caribbean was an airline that served from Isla Verde International Airport, in San Juan. The 1970s and 1980s were decades when several Puerto Rican airlines existed and competed against each other, including Prinair, Vieques Air Link and Dorado Wings. Believing a share of the market profits could be gained, Air Caribbean was created in 1975.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Flight International 27 March 2007