Hummingbird Air
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| Founded | 31 August 2013 | ||||||
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| Commenced operations | 2013 | ||||||
| Operating bases | Henry E. Rohlsen Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 3 | ||||||
| Destinations | 5 | ||||||
| Company slogan | Connecting the hidden Caribbean | ||||||
| Key people | Sam Raphael, president | ||||||
| Website | hum-air |
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Hummingbird Air is an airline offering scheduled and chartered air taxi services as well as cargo flights in the Caribbean. It is based at Henry E. Rohlsen Airport on the island of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The airline was founded in late 2013 by Sam Raphael, a Dominican hotelier who wanted to improve air service to Dominica. As of May 2016, Hummingbird Air serves five destinations in the Caribbean with a fleet of three Beechcraft Model 99 aircraft.
The owner of Hummingbird Air, Sam Raphael, had expressed issues with air service to Dominica as early as 2010. As owner of the Jungle Bay Resort on the island, he claimed the lack of direct flights had turned potential customers away from his resort. On 31 August 2013, Raphael announced his intent to start the airline, claiming it would be important to the Dominican tourism industry.
Hummingbird Air commenced operations in late 2013 with charter flights. It inaugurated flights to Dominica on 27 July 2014, from St. Thomas. In October 2015, the airline obtained Part 135 certification from the U.S. Department of Transportation, allowing it to operate scheduled flights.
On 17 August 2015, a Hummingbird Air aircraft crash-landed in Barbuda. Another crash-landing occurred in St. Lucia on 8 November. The airline responded by immediately suspending all passenger operations and launching an internal investigation. The Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority also started an investigation of the incident. Following a period of reorganization and retraining of its pilots, Hummingbird Air resumed operations on 3 May 2016, in time for the summer travel season.
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