Divi Divi Air

Divi Divi Air N.V. is a small regional service airline in Curaçao. It was established in 2001 and is based in Curaçao.[1] In the area its nickname is "Divi".[2] The airline is named for the Divi-divi tree which grows in the region.

Divi Divi Air
IATA ICAO Callsign
3R DVR DIVI AIR
Founded2001
Commenced operations2002
HubsCuraçao International Airport
Secondary hubsFlamingo International Airport serving Kralendijk, Bonaire
Fleet size6
Destinations3
Parent companyBai Bini Air Tours N.V.
HeadquartersCuraçao
Key peopleGermaine N.F. Richie-Durand (CEO), Danielle Durand
Websitehttp://www.flydivi.com

History

Divi Divi Air was founded on July 28th, 2000 and commenced operations in 2001 with a fleet of Britten-Norman BN-2P Islanders to Bonaire. For over 17 years Divi Divi Air has been a household name on the route between Curaçao and Bonaire. The locals on the islands characterize the airline by its small scale, personal attention and particularly high punctuality. Although the aviation company run by the Richie family has concentrated almost entirely on maintaining the route between Bonaire and Curaçao in the first 17 years, Aruba was added in February 2018.[3] According to director Germaine Richie-Durand, the intention is to improve the connection between Bonaire and Aruba. "Divi wants to bring the population of the three islands closer together," says Richie-Durand. According to the Divi director, the Twin Otter will gradually be deployed more broadly on the routes of islands.[3]

Divi Divi Air began flights out of Curaçao to Aruba on February 15, 2018. This was followed by the launch of operations to Aruba out of Bonaire on February 17, 2018. The expansion signals that Divi Divi Air has now joined Aruba Airlines and Insel Air as the only known airlines connecting the Dutch Caribbean's ABC islands.

The Curaçaoan airline operates the Curaçao-Aruba service at least two times daily, the Curaçao-Bonaire service approximately ten times daily, while the flights out of Bonaire to Aruba are scheduled as one time weekly. All flights will be operated with Twin Otter and the Britten-Norman Islander, as Divi Divi Air strives to be an efficient and reliable airline for all the travel needs of people traveling between Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao.[4]

In October 2018, it was announced that Divi Divi Air, in collaboration with Corendon Dutch Airlines and the Curaçao Tourism Board, would commence flights to Sint Maarten and Brazil for the winter season. Corendon will station a Boeing 737-800 in Curaçao as part of a plan to make some of its fleet available for charter flights or on behalf of third parties during the quieter winter season in Europe. The aircraft will also be used to execute flights to Aruba.[5][6]

In April of 2020, it was announced that Divi Divi Air welcomed its third Britten-Norman BN-2P Islanders into the family. Also, a special 'iguana Divi' livery was unveiled. This special livery is painted on their new Twin Otter. [7]

Destinations
Hub
Focus city
Future destination
Seasonal
Charter
City Country IATA ICAO Airport Refs/notes
Oranjestad  Aruba AUA TNCA Queen Beatrix International Airport
Kralendijk  Caribbean Netherlands BON TNCB Flamingo International Airport
Willemstad  Curaçao CUR TNCC Hato International Airport
Philipsburg  Sint Maarten SXM TNCM Princess Juliana International Airport Operated by Fly All Ways

Fleet

Current fleet

As of April 2020, the Divi Divi Air passenger fleet consists of the following aircraft:[8]

Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Refs/notes
Britten-Norman BN-2P Islander 3 - 9
De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 3 1 19
Total 7 -

As of April 2020, the Divi Divi Air private fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Refs/notes
Cessna 172P 1 - 3 Used for pilot training, sightseeing and speedmail
Piper PA-32R 1 - 5 Used for cargo and charter flights
Total 2 0

Former fleet

Over the years, Divi Divi Air has operated the following aircraft types:

Aircraft Total Passengers Refs/notes
Britten-Norman BN-2P Islander 1 9 Ditched in 2009
Cessna 402B 1 7 Disassembled
Dornier 228 1 19 Sold
Total 3

Accidents

On October 22, 2009, a Britten-Norman BN-2A Islander operating as Divi Divi Air Flight 014 suffered an engine failure and ditched five minutes flying time away from Bonaire. The pilot was knocked unconscious on impact; his passengers could not undo his safety harness and he went down with the aircraft, but rescue boats picked up all nine passengers.[9][10]

gollark: For language features you can use stuff like Babel (or TypeScript) to compile your shiny new code to ES5/6/whatever is supported by your target browsers.
gollark: The majority of the web platform™ works okay on recent browser things.
gollark: Most useful and widely-used web APIs run fine on anything newer than IE 11.
gollark: No, only if you use stupid cutting-edge stuff.
gollark: It's a good thing, though.

References
  1. Divi Divi Air
  2. "About Us." Divi Divi Air. Retrieved on October 26, 2009.
  7. https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/9639111
  8. "Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One)". Airliner World. October 2019: 12.
  9. Kelly, John (October 25, 2009). "Hero pilot Robert Mansell dies after saving lives of his passengers". Mirror. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
  10. "ASN Aircraft accident Britten-Norman BN-2A-26 Islander PJ-SUN Bonaire-Flamingo International Airport (BON)". Aviation Safety Network. 2009-12-07. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.