{{Short description|Airline based in Sint Maarten}} {{About|the Netherlands Antilles airline|the former United States charter airline|WinAir Airlines}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}} {{Infobox airline | airline = Winair | logo = Logo_Winair.svg | logo_size = | image = Winair_DHC-6_Twin_Otter_@_SXM.jpg | alt = | caption = Winair's DHC-6 Twin Otter | IATA = WM | ICAO = WIA | callsign = WINDWARD | founded = {{start date and age|1961|08|24|df=yes|br=yes}}<ref name="NAAH">{{cite book|last=Norwood|first=Tom|author2=Wegg, John |title=North American Airlines Handbook|publisher=Airways International|location=Sandpoint, ID|year=2002|edition=3rd|isbn=0-9653993-8-9|url=http://www.airwaysnews.com}}</ref> | commenced = {{start date and age|1962|07|05|df=yes|br=yes}}<ref name="NAAH"/> | ceased = | aoc = | hubs = Princess Juliana International Airport | secondary_hubs = | focus_cities = | alliance = Caribsky<ref>{{Cite web|title=Three regional carriers form CaribSky alliance: Travel Weekly|url=https://www.travelweekly.com/Caribbean-Travel/Three-regional-carriers-form-CaribSky-alliance|access-date=6 August 2020|website=www.travelweekly.com|language=en}}</ref> | frequent_flyer = Flying Blue | subsidiaries = | fleet_size = 9 | destinations = 17 | parent = | headquarters = Princess Juliana International Airport, Philipsburg, Sint Maarten | key_people = Hans van de Velde (CEO)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.winair.sx/press/winair-says-goodbye-to-michael-cleaver--welcomes-a-new-ceo-96|title=WINAIR SAYS GOODBYE TO MICHAEL CLEAVER WELCOMES A NEW CEO | WINAIR|website=www.winair.sx}}</ref> | founders = {{ubl|class=nowrap | Georges Greaux | Hippolyte Ledee }} | num_employees = | website = {{URL|www.fly-winair.sx}} }}
'''Winair''' (short for '''Windward Islands Airways International NV''') is a government-owned Dutch regional airline based in Sint Maarten. Founded in 1961 by Georges Greaux and Hippolyte Ledee, It has a fleet of nine aircraft serving destinations mostly within the Leeward Islands group of the Lesser Antilles in the North East Caribbean. It has its headquarters on the grounds of Princess Juliana International Airport. It is also the flag carrier airline of Sint Maarten.<ref>"Directory: World Airlines." ''Flight International''. 30 March – 5 April 2004. [http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/2004/2004-09%20-%200339.html?search=%22Windward%20Islands%20Airways%22 96].</ref> Since 1 March 2023, it has been a part of the Flying Blue frequent-flyer programme.<ref>{{cite news |title=WINAIR, KLM Flying blue frequent flyer cooperation |url=https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/winair-klm-flying-blue-frequent-flyer-cooperation |access-date=15 June 2024 |work=The Daily Herald |date=28 March 2023 |language=en-gb}}</ref>
==History== Windward Islands Airways was founded in 1961 by Georges Greaux<ref name=NAAH/> with additional investments from Hipployte Ledee, Chester Wathey, Louis Richardson, and a handful of others. The airline required short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft to service certain airports, such as Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport on Saba, which has the shortest commercial runway in the world.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chilton |first1=Nicola |title=What it's like to land on the world's shortest commercial runway |url=https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/saba-airport-shortest-commercial-runway/index.html |access-date=18 October 2024 |work=CNN |date=8 July 2022}}</ref> The 1 December 1963, Windward Islands Airways timetable lists flights between St. Maarten and Saba operated with STOL-capable Dornier Do 28 aircraft.<ref name="timetableimages.com">{{cite web |date=1 December 1963 |title=Windward Islands Airways timetable |url=http://www.timetableimages.com}}</ref> Winair began flying de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters in January 1967.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MSN 22 — Twin Otter World Database |url=https://twinotterworld.com/msn-22 |access-date=25 June 2024 |website=Twin Otter World Database |language=en-CA}}</ref>
==Destinations== Winair operates services to the following scheduled destinations:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.winair.sx/destinations|title=Destinations | WINAIR|website=www.winair.sx}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable" !Country !City !Airport !Notes !class="unsortable"|Refs |- |Antigua and Barbuda||St. John's||V. C. Bird International Airport||align=center| || |- |Aruba||Oranjestad||Queen Beatrix International Airport||align=center| || |- |Barbados |Bridgetown |Grantley Adams International Airport | |<ref>{{Cite web |title=Winair adds Barbados to our Caribbean Network {{!}} WINAIR |url=https://www.winair.sx/press/winair-adds-barbados-to-our-caribbean-network-125 |access-date=11 September 2024 |website=www.winair.sx |language=en}}</ref> |- |Bonaire||Kralendijk||Flamingo International Airport||align=center| ||<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.caribjournal.com/2023/07/17/bonaire-winair-caribbean-st-maarten/|title=Caribbean Airline Winair Just Returned to Bonaire|website=Caribjournal.com|date=17 July 2023}}</ref> |- |British Virgin Islands||Tortola||Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport||align=center| || |- |Curaçao||Willemstad||Curaçao International Airport||align=center| || |- |Dominica||Marigot||Douglas–Charles Airport||align=center| || |- |Haiti||Port-au-Prince||Toussaint Louverture International Airport||align=center| || |- |Martinique||Fort-de-France||Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport|| ||<ref>{{cite web | url=https://caribbean.loopnews.com/content/winair-expands-regional-connectivity-martinique | title=Winair expands regional connectivity to Martinique | Loop Caribbean News }}</ref> |- |Montserrat |Brades | John A. Osborne Airport | |<ref>{{Cite web |title=Winair to Launch Airlift to Montserrat for upcoming months {{!}} WINAIR |url=https://www.winair.sx/press/winair-to-launch-airlift-to-montserrat-for-upcoming-months-132 |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=www.winair.sx |language=en}}</ref> |- |Saba||Flat Point (Zion's Hill)||Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport||align=center| || |- |Saint-Barthélemy||Saint-Jean||Gustaf III Airport||align=center| || |- |rowspan=2|Saint Kitts and Nevis||Basseterre||Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport|| || |- |Newcastle, Nevis||Vance W. Amory International Airport|| ||align=center|<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nevispages.com/nevis-welcomes-the-return-of-winair-flights-commencing-march-15th/ | title=Nevis Welcomes the Return of Winair Flights Commencing March 15th | date=March 2024 }}</ref> |- |Saint Lucia |Castries |George F. L. Charles Airport | |<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Fly with Winair to St. Lucia St. Vincent this winter {{!}} WINAIR |url=https://www.winair.sx/press/fly-with-winair-to-st-lucia--st-vincent-this-winter-126 |access-date=11 September 2024 |website=www.winair.sx |language=en}}</ref> |- |Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |Kingstown |Argyle International Airport | |<ref name=":0" /> |- |Sint Eustatius||Oranjestad||F.D. Roosevelt Airport||align=center| || |- |Sint Maarten||Philipsburg||Princess Juliana International Airport||{{Airline hub}}|| |- |Trinidad & Tobago |Port of Spain |Piarco International Airport | |align=center|<ref>{{Cite web |title=Winair announces non-stop Trinidad flights |url=http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/winair-announces-nonstop-trinidad-flights-6.2.2463165.6c794da248 |access-date=2026-01-19 |website=www.guardian.co.tt |language=en}}</ref> |- |United States||San Juan||Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport||{{Terminated}}|| |}
===Codeshare agreements=== Winair has interline and codeshare agreements with the following airlines:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fly-winair.sx/airline-partners.html|title=Winair|website=www.fly-winair.sx|accessdate=12 May 2018|archive-date=13 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180513011406/https://www.fly-winair.sx/airline-partners.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://caribbean.loopnews.com/content/surinam-airways-and-winair-forge-interline-partnership | title=Surinam Airways and Winair forge an interline partnership | Loop Caribbean News }}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=17em}} *Air Antilles *Air Caraïbes *Air France *British Airways *Caribbean Airlines *Copa Airlines *Corsair International *Delta Air Lines *KLM *United Airlines *Virgin Atlantic *Surinam Airways {{Div col end}}
==Fleet== [[File:Winair 9574.jpg|thumb|ATR 42]] [[File:WinairTO.jpg|thumb|Winair de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 "Twin Otter"]] [[File:Britten-Norman BN-2A-26 Islander, Winair - Windward Islands Airways JP5823246.jpg|thumb|A formerly operated Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander]]
===Current fleet=== {{As of|2025|8}}, Winair operates the following aircraft:<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Global Airline Guide 2025 - Winair |magazine=Airliner World |date=September 2025 |page=74}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em auto; text-align:center" |- !Aircraft !In service !Orders !Passengers !Notes |- |ATR 42-500 |4 |— |48 | |- |de Havilland Canada Dash 6-300 Twin Otter |5 |— |19 | |- !Total !9<ref>{{Cite web |title=Winair Expands Fleet to Nine Aircraft {{!}} WINAIR |url=https://www.winair.sx/news/winair-expands-fleet-to-nine-aircraft-137 |access-date=2025-10-15 |website=www.winair.sx |language=en}}</ref> !— !colspan=2| |}
=== Historic fleet === According to the 1 December 1963 Windward Islands Airways timetable the airline was operating STOL-capable Dornier Do-28 as well as Piper Apache aircraft.<ref name="timetableimages.com"/> Additionally, Winair has previously operated Britten-Norman BN-2 Islanders, Fokker F-27s, Beech Twin Bonanzas, and NAMC-YS 11s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Civil Database |url=https://www.scramble.nl/database/civil?op=Winair%20-%20Windward%20Islands%20Airways#results |access-date=25 June 2024 |website=www.scramble.nl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=reporter |date=10 March 2021 |title=Winair's 'Logo-in-a-hurry' still in use after 55 years |url=https://bes-reporter.com/winairs-logo-in-a-hurry-still-in-use-after-55-years/ |access-date=25 June 2024 |website=BES Reporter}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Aircraft Photo of N107MP {{!}} NAMC YS-11-111 {{!}} Winair - Windward Islands Airways {{!}} AirHistory.net #569919 |url=https://www.airhistory.net/photo/569919/N107MP |access-date=25 June 2024 |website=AirHistory.net |language=en}}</ref>
==See also== *List of airlines of the Dutch Caribbean
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category-inline|Winair}} * {{Official website|http://www.fly-winair.sx}}
{{Portalbar|Aviation|Caribbean|Netherlands}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Airlines of the Netherlands Antilles Category:Airlines of Sint Maarten Category:Airlines established in 1961 Category:1961 establishments in the Netherlands Antilles