Winair (WM, St. Maarten) took delivery of the first of two ex-TAME Ecuador ATR42-500s on June 30, 2023.
PJ-WIV (msn 854) was ferried from Medellín Enrique Olaya Herrera via Medellín José Maria Córdova to St. Maarten. The 11.5-year-old turboprop has been out of commercial service since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
The Caribbean regional carrier had planned to launch the type's operations on July 1, but this has been delayed to July 14, as PJ-WIV remains parked for the time being. The second aircraft, N849AV (msn 849), is due for delivery by the second week of August, the airline told ch-aviation.
The ATR - Avions de Transport Régional turboprops will join Winair's existing fleet of five DHC-6-300s and will allow the airline to end costly wet-leases of ATR42s from Air Antilles (Pointe à Pitre).
Meanwhile, CEO Michael Cleaver retired from his role on July 1, 2023, and was replaced by Hans van de Velde, who will be responsible for guiding the Dutch Caribbean carrier through its next stage of growth.
