brent.pinheiro@guardian.co.tt
One year before T&T gained independence from Great Britain, a little airline called Windward Islands Airways International NV (Winair) was founded in Sint Maarten. One year later, it spread its wings and began commercial operations. Now, 64 years later, the Caribbean’s oldest airline is spreading its wings once again and launching flights to Trinidad.
On February 1, the airline will begin nonstop twice-weekly scheduled service between Trinidad’s Piarco International Airport (POS) and Sint Maarten’s Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) using its 48-seater ATR 42-500s. Initially flying on Wednesdays and Sundays, the flights are timed to connect to eight Caribbean destinations as well as several international ones.
But the airline doesn’t plan to stop at just two weekly flights. In an interview with the Sunday Business Guardian, Winair CEO Hans van de Velde explained the airline’s cautious yet confident approach. He said, “It’s a start with only two flights a week. But it’s literally a start. Our intention is to fly more often. And our intention is also to open up more routes. But we don’t want to (make) the mistake other airlines have made in the past, wanting to go too fast. So, we (will) do it steadily. And if success is there, and we think it will be there, we will grow.”
Slow and steady expansion has worked thus far for the airline. Despite being on the brink of bankruptcy several years ago, the airline is now recording record profits.
In the first half of 2025, the airline recorded a 16 per cent increase in scheduled capacity and a 22 per cent increase in passenger loads compared to the same period in 2024. Even more noteworthy, a 28 per cent growth in total revenue in an industry that traditionally operates with razor-thin profit margins. Winair’s operational success stems from having a specialised fleet: five De Havilland Twin-Otters and four ATR42-500s connecting 17 countries and 30 destinations. According to van de Velde, it’s perfect for the islands in which Winair operates. The 19-seater Twin Otters are ideal for the short runways of nearby Saba and St Barth’s, while the larger ATRs connect some of the more distant Caribbean countries.
Van de Velde noted, “For many routes, for instance, between St Kitts and Antigua, a 50-seater is about the max you can fill. So even a 70-seater would be too much.” The airline plans to introduce two more ATRs by 2027 as it expands to larger markets.
The secret to profitability?
For van de Velde, it’s the company’s focus on punctuality over price. While several airlines advertise low inter-regional fares, van de Velde called such promises “unrealistic”.
“It’s impossible in this region to operate for low prices, because running an airline here is expensive, and there are a number of reasons. One is that there are very high taxes,” he said. “So, we have an introductory fare of US$200 one way, literally half of it is tax. As an airline, you don’t keep that; that tax goes to the government. So, offering low prices is not very realistic, and we have seen in this region that many airlines went bankrupt. It shows that it’s difficult to run an airline,” he added.
Instead, van de Velde emphasises the importance of getting passengers where they need to be on time, as about half of Winair’s customers connect onwards from Sint Maarten.
“They connect from, for instance, Trinidad to Sint Maarten, but onwards to either the United States or to other islands around us. So, keeping that timing, that on-time performance, that punctuality is crucial for us,” he said.
An extension of the existing Winair-Caribbean Airlines partnership is also on the horizon. He said, “We choose to have a strong cooperation with Caribbean Airlines because our networks are really quite (well) aligned and we will align them further. We already have an interline cooperation with Caribbean Airlines. And we have been in talks for a few months about upgrading that to a codeshare agreement. And I think I can say that I foresee that happening this year.”
For Winair, Caribbean Airlines is both a competitor and a friend. Both carriers are mid-sized (by Caribbean standards), both connect multiple destinations in the region, and both will compete on the Port of Spain-Sint Maarten route. Van de Velde admits the local carrier’s strong presence caused them to reconsider adding Trinidad to their route map. But despite the strong possibility of sustaining losses at first, the company is prepared to make the route work.
“This is for us a long-term project, we have a substantial marketing budget and we will probably lose quite some money (in) the first months, but we think we have a place in the market,” said van de Velde.
Winair’s entry into the T&T market has not been without its challenges. The carrier has encountered what many here complain of on a daily basis; the issue of foreign exchange. Van de Velde admits it’s something that worries him.
“We did market research, and we focused very much on whether we think there are passengers who want to take this flight? Then do a deep dive, and then suddenly you realise that maybe buying a ticket is not so easy for everybody,” he said. Adding, “So while we are currently in discussions with travel agents on how to do that, I am confident that we can because we have all (of) these international cooperations, we are in every sales channel there is. We’ve always found a solution.”
