Air Antilles has shut down for good after a court in Guadeloupe in the Caribbean ordered the regional carrier into liquidation, ending another attempt to keep regular air service alive among the French-controlled islands.
Founded in 2002, Air Antilles was a French Caribbean regional airline that used a small turboprop fleet, including ATR 42, ATR 72 and DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft, to connect Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint-Martin, Saint-Barthélemy and other nearby Caribbean islands.
The Commercial Court of Pointe-à-Pitre ordered the liquidation after rejecting remaining rescue proposals for the airline. The court found that Air Antilles no longer had a viable path to continue operating. The decision ended months of uncertainty for the carrier, which had not flown since December 2025.
Air Antilles’ collapse leaves a travel gap in a region where short island-to-island flights can be essential for residents, workers and visitors.
The airline’s final slide began in late 2025 when French aviation authorities grounded the carrier after a failed safety audit. The suspension stopped Air Antilles from operating flights or selling tickets. Without revenue, and without the money to fix the problems identified by regulators, the airline quickly fell deeper into financial trouble.
Air Antilles entered court protection in January 2026. The process gave the company time to find a buyer or present a plan to restart operations. But the remaining offers failed to convince the court that the airline could survive.
The liquidation leaves about 116 employees out of work. The airline’s small fleet, including two ATR 72s, one ATR 42 and one DHC-6 Twin Otter, will now be liquidated as part of the bankruptcy process.
Air Antilles had already survived one earlier crisis after the collapse of the Caire group in 2023. A relaunched version of the carrier resumed service in 2024, backed partly by local interests, but it failed to build a stable footing.
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