This Thursday, February 29, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Air Antilles, Jérôme Arnaud, was received by six members of the Executive Council of Saint-Martin in order to present an update on the situation of the airline.
For the activity to resume, it remains to complete the technical audits stage on the 5 aircraft and thus obtain the Air Transport Certificate (CTA) then the Operating License authorizing the flight of the aircraft and finally begin the commercial resumption . The OPS (Technical Operation of Aircraft) certification audit carried out by the Civil Aviation Safety Directorate (DSAC) Antilles-Guyana in Pointe-à-Pitre from February 5 to 7, 2024, was found to be very conclusive by the inspectors. . Four additional steps are, however, necessary to see Air Antilles planes take off again. The first, at the beginning of this month, will consist of passing the internal audit, then the regulatory compliance audit of the Civil Aviation Safety Organization (OSAC), which concerns aeronautical safety through control and airworthiness monitoring. This step will allow the company's planes to restart. As Jérôme Arnaud indicated, Air Antilles will obtain, in mid-March, its Air Transport Certificate and then its operating license correlative to the financial solidity of the company. The marketing of tickets can then, finally, begin. In view of these elements, the launch program is taking place in line with the scenarios proposed in September 2023 before the Mixed Commercial Court of Pointe-à-Pitre. Jérôme Arnaud recalls that this process took 6 months, which constitutes a record in France. He is confident about the restart of the planes, the first tests of which will begin this first week of March. Present at the inauguration of the maintenance hangar based at Guadeloupe airport on January 26, the CEO of Air Antilles confirms that the trajectory is in accordance with the established business plan and the financial projections audited by the DGAC in February. . Air Antilles' cash flow is today higher than expected and will make it possible, once the €6M bond issue has been paid by the Saint-Martin Community, to obtain the operating license.
For Louis Mussington, president of the COM, and his team, transparency is the key word. Regarding the advance of public funds, these are capped and the Community is in full compliance with French and European regulations in this area. Everything is being done so that Air Antilles can resume its activity as quickly as possible in order to bring healthy competition to the market and allow Saint-Martin residents to travel more easily and at more competitive costs. In this sense, in terms of commercial policy, Air Antilles plans specific measures for the inhabitants of Saint-Martin. _VX
https://faxinfo.fr/en/air-antilles-le-point-sur-la-situation/
