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Cancelled flights, missing luggage upon arrival—criticism of Winair has been mounting since the start of the season. This dissatisfaction comes from both individual travelers and professionals in the tourism industry. “Such a decline in service quality is becoming truly discouraging,” one of them says.
To top it all off, the airline has seen a significant drop in passenger numbers since January. Passenger numbers were down 8.40% compared to January 2025, down 11.21% in February, and down 12.63% in April. Only March saw a slight increase, with 2.86% more passengers than in 2025.
Admittedly, Winair remains clearly in the lead among the airlines serving Saint Barth. It is far ahead of Tradewind, with more than double the monthly average number of passengers, as well as Saint Barth Commuter and Saint Barth Executive. But this is because it operates aircraft (5 Twin Otters) with a boarding capacity far superior to that of its competitors.
To address the criticism and questions, the company’s CEO, Hans van de Velde, agreed to answer questions from the Journal de Saint-Barth.
Although Winair remains the airline carrying the most passengers to Saint-Barthélemy, a significant drop in passenger numbers has been observed since the beginning of the year. To what do you attribute this decline?
Let me begin by saying that Winair and I are sincerely sorry for the passengers who have experienced delays or whose flights had to be canceled by Winair (most often due to sunset). We are proud to transport 100,000 passengers a year to Saint Barthélemy and to have thus contributed significantly to the region’s tourism development for over 50 years. In January and February, Winair’s traffic fell by 11%, but in March, it rose by 3% (in April, Winair’s traffic showed another decline of 12.63% compared to 2025, ed.). There are several reasons for this situation, the main ones being as follows. We modified our fare structure and distribution model at the end of 2025 and had to make adjustments. We are a connecting airline. 99% of our passengers are connecting from the United States or France via Saint Martin. Numerous delays were reported this winter on these connecting flights. Suppose a European airline arrives at 4:00 p.m. instead of 3:00 p.m., with sunset at 6:00 p.m., carrying 100 passengers connecting to Saint Barthélemy. In this case, it is impossible to transport all passengers.
Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIAE) has seen heavy traffic recently with the arrival of new airlines, especially in the afternoon. For several days, the average delay for all airlines (not just Winair) reached 30 to 60 minutes, particularly on weekends. Finally, and most importantly, Winair has encountered numerous operational issues, particularly during the last weeks of April. Saint-Barthélemy is one of the most demanding airports in the world, and aircraft must, of course, be in perfect working order. Unfortunately, we had to deal with several unplanned maintenance operations. Fortunately, the situation returned to normal this week.
Tourism professionals regularly complain about flight disruptions or missing luggage for Winair passengers. What are the causes of these problems?
Well, Winair carries about half of Saint Barthélemy’s passengers. As by far the largest airline, it makes sense that our name comes up. Many of our passengers travel in business class, with about 30 to 40 kilos of luggage per person. Our planes can accommodate 19 passengers, but we carry a maximum of 16, which allows us to manage the volume and weight of all that luggage. And even that isn’t always enough. In addition, all this luggage must go through security screening at Princess Juliana Airport, just like at any other airport. This takes time, which means that sometimes a passenger rushes through the terminal to catch their flight while their luggage is still on the carousel, and ends up missing their flight.
Is the airline a victim of increased traffic?
I wouldn’t say “victim.” It’s a situation we need to manage better. Winair had the same flight schedule to Saint Barthélemy for this winter as for the 2024/2025 winter season, with five aircraft. Delays with connecting airlines and increased traffic at Princess Juliana Airport and Saint Barthélemy have had a significant impact. A telling example: in the summer, the flight between Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy takes 15 minutes, door-to-door. This winter, it easily took 30 minutes due to long waits on the tarmac and heavy traffic. Next season, we will therefore have no choice but to reevaluate our operations.
What solutions has Winair implemented to address the situation and stem the decline in passenger numbers?
Since Princess Juliana Airport (PJIAE) is very busy in the winter, the route between Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy is so congested that we are unfortunately forced to reduce our late-afternoon flights, especially on weekends. Winair cannot ignore the success of PJIAE and must adapt. This winter, we have observed that even though we can schedule flights on paper, the heavy traffic at PJIAE significantly increases the risk of cancellations due to sunset. To compensate, we will have an additional aircraft starting this winter (we will increase from 5 to 6 Twin Otters), which will allow us to schedule more flights in the early and mid-afternoon, but not as sunset approaches. We regret having to take this measure, but we prefer to limit the number of flights and get passengers to their destinations rather than increase the number of flights and encounter problems related to sunset.
