Insel Air
| File:Insel Air logo.svg | |||||||
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| Founded | 1993 | ||||||
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| Commenced operations | 2006 | ||||||
| Hubs |
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| Focus cities | |||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | Insel Star Miles | ||||||
| Alliance | Pan Caribbean Alliance | ||||||
| Subsidiaries | Insel Air Aruba | ||||||
| Fleet size | 9 (+5 on order) | ||||||
| Destinations | 18 (2 seasonal)(+3 planned) | ||||||
| Headquarters | Maduro Plaza, Dokweg 19, Willemstad, Curaçao | ||||||
| Key people |
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| Website | http://www.fly-inselair.com/ | ||||||
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Insel Air (formally Insel Air International B.V.) is a Dutch Caribbean airline that serves as the flag carrier of Curaçao, with its head office in Maduro Plaza, Willemstad.[1]
As of 2014, Insel Air serves 16 destinations throughout the Caribbean, South America and North America. Its fleet consists of McDonnell Douglas MD-82 and MD-83's, Fokker 50's with Fokker 70's being introduced in 2014. The airline's main hubs are Hato International Airport (Insel Air Curaçao) and Queen Beatrix International Airport (Insel Air Aruba) with a secondary hub at Princess Juliana International Airport.[2] Insel Air was incorporated as a private limited liability company (Dutch: Besloten Vennootschap) on September 8, 1993 and is registered with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Curaçao under number 64577.
History
2006-2010
Insel Air started operations in August 2006 with one Embraer 110-P1 Bandeirante flying out of Curaçao to the neighboring island of Aruba. Soon afterwards, Insel Air began flights to the neighbouring island of Bonaire and also to Las Piedras in Venezuela.
Starting in January 2007, the airline began serving the Eastern and Northern Caribbean via Sint Maarten with a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 and with an additional McDonnell Douglas MD-82 in June 2008. Insel Air also added services to Miami via Curaçao and Bonaire at this time.
In September 2009, Insel Air took delivery of a second MD-82 aircraft. The aircraft arrived at Curacao as N434AG, being the only MD-80 with the known "screwdriver tail" at the time. Insel took delivery of its third MD82 on December 4, 2009 and fourth MD82 in May 2011. At this time Insel Air began operating four new destinations – Medellin, Charlotte, Barquisimeto and Caracas.
Since then, the company has grown into an airline with thirteen aircraft. Of these thirteen, eleven are owned by Insel Air.[3] With the additional aircraft, the total seat count in Insel Air's fleet has risen from 19 seats in 2006 to 167 in 2007, 319 in 2008, 653 in 2010, 955 in 2011 to 1,259 in 2013.
2011
Following the introduction of new services to Medellin, Bogota and Charlotte, the airline added a fifth MD-80 on May 12, 2011. Insel Air currently has an interline agreement with Charlotte-hubbed US Airways, covering service to Curaçao and Bonaire. Apart from the new flights to Charlotte, Bogota and Medellin, Insel Air is looking to introduce service to Brazil and Argentina. Acknowledging that the carrier's MD-80 fleet doesn't have the range to reach Argentina, the airline stated that it may consider another aircraft type depending on future partnerships.
The Company also completed the IATA operational safety audit (IOSA) and joined ALTA, the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association in November 2011.[4]
2012
On November 16, 2012, Insel Air inaugurated its Curacao-Maracaibo route and began regular operations on December 14. Mr Kluyver (CEO of Insel Air) said a sixth MD80 series aircraft will enter service in December 2012 and a seventh aircraft is slated to enter service in May 2013. The capacity generated by the forthcoming expansion of the MD-80 fleet will be directed by the Aruba venture. Insel Air was originally planning to expand its MD-80 fleet in early 2012 but delayed the project due to delays in launching Insel Air Aruba.[5]
In 2012 Insel Air Aruba received its AOC certificate, giving the airline official authorization to perform services out of Aruba. Insel Air Aruba will begin operating 13 new routes - Miami, Santo Domingo, Cuba, St. Maarten, Puerto Rico, Bonaire, Curacao, Caracas, Valencia, Maracaibo, Ecuador, Belem, Manaus.
2013
Insel Air and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines consolidated their cooperation with a code-sharing agreement, offering customers greater comfort and options and thereby enabling them to travel to destinations served by the two partners without having to re-check luggage. Additionally, flight schedules will be closely coordinated so that travel time is minimized.
In August 2013 Insel Air celebrated its first ‘in house’ heavy maintenance (C-Check) on Curacao on an MD-82. It was for the first time that the airline performed the check on its aircraft using its in-house expertise. In the past, the check was carried out abroad. The C-check is a big overhaul that needs to be conducted every year and a half according to regulations.[6]
2014
Insel Air inaugurated it's first four services from Aruba operated by Insel Air Aruba in the first half of 2014. Insel Air Aruba began operations to Miami, Valencia, Caracas, which were already served by via Insel Air's Curacao hub and Georgetown, Guyana will be introduced in the network via Aruba in June 2014. Insel Air will also introduce Barranquilla, Colombia in June 2014 and La Romana, Dominican Republic in July 2014 from the airline's Curacao hub.[7]
The airline will also acquire 4 ex-KLM Cityhopper Fokker 70's with the first aircraft arriving in early June 2014. The Fokker jets are planned to be operated out of both the Aruba and Curacao hubs.[8] The Embraers were retired early in 2014.
Agreements
Insel Air has interline agreements with the following airlines - Tiara Air, US Airways, Winair, GOL, Avianca, Blue Panorama, Hahn Air, and Air France. Furthermore, Insel Air has codeshare agreements with KLM and Surinam Airways.
Insel Air and Tiara Air
Aruban national airline Tiara Air and the Aruban government recently announced a collaboration with Insel Air that will enforce the optimal use of touristic routes to Aruba.
In order to serve passengers best, the agreement is valid for all routes that both airlines operate. The Aruban government also stated that it was committed to release an AOC (Air Operating Certificate) to Insel Air within three months, making it possible for Insel Air to also proceed as an Aruban airline under the name "Insel Air Aruba."[9]
According to Mr. E.K. Heerenveen, Chief General of International Affairs, "Under this new agreement Insel Air Aruba will operate three Fokker 50's and one MD-80, increasing the total availability of seats to 50.000 a month."
Insel Air and KLM
As of March 27, 2011, passengers carrying a KLM ticket can now also fly to all Insel Air destinations. Passengers will be transported on one ticket with automatic baggage transfer via Insel Air's hubs in Curacao and Sint Maarten.
This interline agreement pertains to five destinations - Kingston, San Juan, Santo Domingo, Port-au-Prince and Las Piedras.
On December 1, 2012, codeshare flights began between both carriers.[10] The consolidation and expansion of this cooperation between KLM and InselAir enables KLM to establish better connections to Caribbean destinations via Curacao. It also allows Insel Air to better accommodate this growing need and to offer passengers greater convenience and additional destinations.
Insel Air and US Airways
Due to the interline agreement with US Airways, passengers can get ticketed through on US Airways flights and vice versa, making it possible to connect to 58 US Airways destinations within 2,5 hours of the InselAir arrival and departure time in Charlotte.
Loyalty programme
Insel Air's frequent flyer/loyalty programme is called "Insel Star Miles" in which members earn points for miles flown, with benefits such as priority check-in and free bagagge allowances. Membership levels include Basic, Silver, Gold and Diamond.
Livery
Insel Air has a simple livery on its aircraft. The fuselage is all white with the logo next to the main exit. The tail has a blue colour with a yellow curved line flowing horizontally on the tail. It also includes two white stars representing Curaçao and Klein Curaçao "Little Curaçao". The tail represents the national flag of Curaçao. The Fokker Embraer's have a darker coloured tail and a thicker, more curved line than the MD80s. The MD80s have recently received a logo update, while the update of the Embraer's livery is unknown.
The new Insel Air Aruba fleet consisting of 3 Fokker 50's will receive the official logo of Aruba.
Destinations
Current
As of May 2014, Insel Air serves the following destinations:[11]
Proposed Destinations
| City | Country | Airport |
|---|---|---|
| Bogota |  Colombia |
El Dorado International Airport |
| Havana |  Cuba |
José Martí International Airport |
| San José |  Costa Rica |
Juan Santamaría International Airport |
Former Destinations
| City | Country | Airport |
|---|---|---|
| Port of Spain |  Trinidad and Tobago |
Piarco International Airport |
Fleet
As of May 2014, the Insel Air fleet consists of the following aircraft:[12]
| Aircraft | In Service |
Orders | Passengers | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Y+ | Y | Total | ||||
| Fokker 50 | 3 | — | 8 | 42 | 50 | One aircraft in C-Check |
| Fokker 70 | — | 4 | TBA | First Delivery June 2014 | ||
| McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | 4 | — | 15 | 137 | 152 | One aircraft in C-Check One Aircraft operated by Insel Air Aruba |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 137 | 152 | One Aircraft operated by Insel Air Aruba |
| Total | 9 | 5 | ||||
Previously operated
- 2 Bombardier Dash 8-300 (leased from Voyageur Airways)
- 1 Dash 6-300 Twin Otter (leased from Winair)
- 1 Dash 6-300 Twin Otter (leased from Grenadine Airways)
- 3 Embraer 110-P1 Bandeirante (retired)
- 2 British Aerospace Jetstream 32 (leased from Caribair)
- 2 British Aerospace Jetstream 32 (leased from Kavok Airlines)
- 1 McDonnell Douglas MD-80 (leased from World Atlantic Airlines)
- 1 McDonnell Douglas MD-80 (leased from Surinam Airways)
- 1 McDonnell Douglas MD-80 (retired)
- 1 Saab 340 (leased from Salsa d'Haïti)
References
- ^ "General conditions" (Archive) Insel Air. Retrieved on 21 March 2014. "Our Registered Address is Dokweg 19, Maduro Plaza, Willemstad, Curacao, Netherlands Antilles."
- ^ About Insel Air
- ^ A very positive year for InselAir
- ^ Insel Air joins ALTA as IOSA certified airline
- ^ Curacao’s InselAir targets Miami-Venezuela market with launch of new Aruba subsidiary
- ^ Insel Air conducts in-house C-check
- ^ Insel Air introduces new services from Curacao and Aruba hubs
- ^ Insel Air to acquire KLM Cityhopper F70's
- ^ Insel Air istablishes Insel Air Aruba and sign agreement with Tiara Air
- ^ KLM and InselAir To Initiate Code-Sharing
- ^ Insel Air Destinations
- ^ Insel Air fleet
External links
