POINTE-À-PITRE – Regional airline Air Antilles has been ordered into judicial liquidation by the Mixed Commercial Court of Pointe-à-Pitre, bringing an immediate end to its operations and leaving 116 employees facing an uncertain future.
The ruling, handed down on Monday, closes months of restructuring efforts and ends a rescue process that had been closely watched across the French Caribbean, where the airline played a key role in connecting islands. The court ordered an immediate cessation of activity after rejecting all takeover proposals, ruling that none offered a sufficiently credible or financially viable path forward.
The final remaining bid came from businessman Pierre Sainte-Luce, who proposed relaunching the airline under the new brand “Air Kalinago.”
Air Antilles
His offer totaled just over €200,000 and included the immediate rehiring of only 13 to 14 employees, with the possibility of additional recruitment if operations stabilized.
While judges acknowledged that the proposal had an industrial structure, they concluded it lacked the financial guarantees necessary to restart the airline and sustain operations.
Earlier in the process, another larger bid involving the preservation of more than 100 jobs was withdrawn after questions emerged about its financing and immediate viability.
Air Antilles had been under court-supervised restructuring since February after formally declaring insolvency in January. Its aircraft had already been grounded for months due to severe financial difficulties and operational disruptions.
The airline had long been considered a regional lifeline in the Lesser Antilles, operating routes between Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Martin, Saint Barthélemy, Dominica and Saint Lucia.
Its network provided critical inter-island air connectivity in a region where ferry connections are often limited, weather-dependent or time-consuming.
The collapse now raises concerns about reduced regional connectivity, fewer travel options and higher ticket prices as remaining carriers absorb demand.
The shutdown is also expected to affect tourism flows and business travel between the islands, sectors that rely heavily on fast and regular air links.
For workers, the decision marks a major blow.
Union representatives had pushed for a broader rescue plan that would preserve more jobs, but the court ultimately ruled that no proposal met the legal and financial requirements to justify continuation.
The airline’s judicial administrator will now oversee the shutdown process, while a liquidator begins the formal process of verifying debts and ranking creditors.
For the French Caribbean aviation market, the liquidation of Air Antilles marks the end of a major regional operator and adds new uncertainty to inter-island transportation in the eastern Caribbean.