Winair goes forward with limited service

St. Maarten’s national airline Windward Islands Airways Interna­tional Winair relocated its aircraft to St. Vincent prior to Hurricane Irma and cur­rently the fleet is operating from St. Kitts, as fuel and security for their aircraft are not yet present in St.Maarten.

The airline has performed more than 60 relief flights evacuating non-nationals and providing transporta­tion to legal residents of St. Maarten.

Winair suffered massive damage to its facilities and basic telecommunications, Internet, electricity and water were disrupted, making operations difficult. The company said the resil­ience of its employees who came to assist is noted and is much appreciated by all.
Winair is currently in the process of rebuilding and reintroducing a limited schedule serving Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Barths, An­tigua and St. Kitts, once authorisation is given by the appropriate authorities, Winair is optimistic that this will be granted by Oc­tober I.

Tortola, Guadeloupe, Dominica and San Juan will be additional destina­tions once facilities and approvals are granted for resumption of service. Wi­nair is working with ap­propriate authorities to in­troduce a frequent service St. Maarten-Curacao-St.Maarten to allow the pub­lic to connect with carriers serving Curacao.
Winair also will resume service to Haiti as soon as possible. The company has secured office space in Philipsburg to provide sales and reser­vation services to the pub­lic; expected opening date is Wednesday, October 4.

The Daily Herald.