France Grounds Air Antilles Prompting Flight Cancelations

French civil aviation authorities have suspended the commercial and non-commercial operations of regional carrier Air Antilles. As of August 27th, the Guadeloupe-based airline is now unable to operate its seven ATRs and four Twin Otters, causing airline-wide flight cancelations.

A prolonged suspension of operations of Air Antilles has the potential to massively affect the island communities of the Antilles as its the only company offering connectivity in much of the region. Today-In-24 notes that rival carrier Air Caraïbes only maintains operations high traffic routes.

Operations suspended, placed under enhanced surveillance

On August 27th, France’s General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC) suspended commercial and non-commercial operation of Air Antilles. This regional carrier, based in the French overseas region of Guadeloupe and operating across the Antilles Archipelago, uses seven ATRs and four Twin Otters for its island-hopping services.

The decision was prompted by OSAC, a private company subcontracted by the French government to conduct administrative and technical verification relating to airworthiness, mainly on behalf of (but not limited to) the DGAC. The message from the DGAC, posted by several media outlets, is as follows:

“During the monitoring of your organization since the beginning of 2021, we have observed eight important non-conformities, relating to the ATR and Twin fleets, which show that your management system does not allow you to control compliance with the procedures required to guarantee the airworthiness of these fleets of airplanes and the adequacy of the procedures.”

In addition, France TV reports that the OSAC has limited the scope of operations for Air Antilles’ single Cessna Caravan for a month. To lift the suspension, OSAC states that “adequate corrective measures” are required. In addition to this requirement, OSAC wishes to place the airline under a reinforced surveillance regime for a period of six months.

Responding to the suspension

Speaking with France TV’s Guadeloupe 1, airline owner Eric Koury downplays the issue, acknowledging maintenance problems on just one Twin Otter aircraft. On this, Koury stated that the aircraft “had been sent for maintenance for a very long time in the United States for a wing change. But it never carried any passengers.”

The company said in a statement that this ordeal “has cast doubt on the reliability of our airworthiness monitoring system for the rest of the fleet.”  The company insists that on August 28th, it had done everything possible to bring “a precise and detailed response” to OSAC. In doing so, it hopes for recovery “in the next few days.”

Air Guyane Express and Air Antilles are the subsidiary brands of parent company CAIRE, otherwise known as Compagnie Aérienne Inter Régionale Express. These two companies are based respectively at the airports of Cayenne-Félix Eboué Pointe and Pitre-Guadeloupe Pôle Caraïbes, operating in the Caribbean-Guyana region.

Have you ever flown with Air Antilles? Let us know in the comments.

Source: https://simpleflying.com/france-air-antilles-grounded/