Air Antilles: still in limbo
The decision by the Commercial Court of Pointe-à-Pitre, which was eagerly awaited on Thursday 23 April, has once again been postponed and will be handed down on Monday 27 April. Even if the takeover is approved, some uncertainties remain regarding the company’s future.
The court will therefore decide next Monday whether to approve the takeover of Air Antilles by the Pewen Group, led by Dr Pierre Sainte-Luce. In an interview with Canal 10 following Thursday’s hearing, Maître Beaujour, Pierre Sainte-Luce’s lawyer, explained that the proposal was based on a complete overhaul of Air Antilles’ operations to avoid repeating the shortcomings or mistakes of the past. The proposal envisages developing partnerships with a number of carriers; a partnership with Air Calédonie, which has an ATR available for hire, and discussions with Sunrise Airways (a Haitian airline) are among the options being considered. The lawyer also indicated a reduction in costs (including the cancellation of debts estimated at over €50 million), followed by a phased resumption of operations, with a ‘gradual ramp-up’ to ensure connectivity between the Northern Islands and Guadeloupe, and eventually with other islands. If this takeover goes ahead, even in the event of a takeover, operations could not resume before the autumn, in his view, to allow time to regain flight authorisations.
As for the future of the staff, the idea is “to rehire staff as and when needed and in line with the company’s development”. In short, if the buyer estimates a need for 40 staff by next autumn, qualified staff will be rehired as and when required, without clearly specifying what will happen to the others. According to some sources, over a hundred staff members are set to be made redundant, out of a workforce of 117 employees.
Another grey area revealed by our colleagues at Guadeloupe la 1re, Maître Beaujour, the buyer’s lawyer, was awarded on 18 March 2026, without any advertising or prior competitive tendering, the public contract launched by the Collectivité for a ‘legal support mission for the Collectivité of Saint-Martin, as part of the restructuring of SEM Air Antilles’ for a sum of €40,000. Given that the Collectivité is also the majority shareholder in Air Antilles… all this may leave one perplexed. Whilst there is much talk in the media about the takeover by Pierre Sainte-Luce, one must not forget that two other bidders are also still in the running: Guyane Express Fly and R Plane 9. The court will therefore have to decide between three proposals.
