Air Saint-Pierre: The Transatlantic Airline Serving 6000 People

France has many overseas territories spread out across the world. Some notable examples are Réunion Island and Mayotte in the Indian Ocean. Flights between France and these places are among the longest domestic flights in the world.

However, France has a lesser-known overseas territory just off the coast of Canada. Today, we will talk about Saint Pierre and Miquelon, specifically its home airline, Air Saint-Pierre.

Little Airline, Big Impact

Saint Pierre and Miquelon is a territorial overseas collectivity of France located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is 12 miles from Point May in Canada's Newfoundland and 2,373 miles from Brest, France.

As of the 2016 census, the archipelago of eight islands has a population of just over 6,000 people. Marine transport and ferry services are common ways to access the islands, however, there are two airports with the main one in Saint Pierre and a smaller one in Miquelon.

Saint-Pierre's Point-Blanche Airport (FSP) is only served by hometown carrier Air Saint-Pierre. The airline operates a fleet of four aircraft consisting of two ATR42-600s and two Cessna 406s. The ATRs are used for most international flights to Canada while the Cessnas primarily operate inter-island routes.

From Saint-Pierre, Air Saint-Pierre serves seven destinations:

• Miquelon (MQC)
• Halifax, NS, Canada (YHZ)
• Montréal-Trudeau, QC, Canada (YUL)
• St. John's, NL, Canada (YYT)
• îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC, Canada (YGR) - Seasonal
• Paris-Charles de Gaulle, France (CDG) - Seasonal
• Stephenville, NL, Canada (YGR) - Charter Service

Air Saint-Pierre was founded in 1964 and has played a key role in connecting the archipelago to the rest of the world. Given Saint Pierre and Miquelon's location, air travel is the easiest way to reach the islands. Otherwise, passengers must put up with ferry or other marine travel, which can take longer.

The carrier flies up to four daily round trips between Saint-Pierre and the other airport in Miquelon. There are one to two weekly flights to Montréal, three weekly flights to St. John's, three to four weekly flights to Halifax, and, in the summer, two weekly flights to the Magdalen Islands.

Now you might wonder, "How can this airline serve Paris with a fleet of just turboprop aircraft?" It's a great question and one that many tend to think about.

During the summer months, a peak season for travel, Air Saint-Pierre wet leases a Boeing 737-700 from ASL Airlines France. With this aircraft, the airline can operate one weekly flight during the summer from Saint-Pierre to Paris Charles de Gaulle.

The flight operates as PJ637 from CDG-FSP and PJ638 from FSP-CDG. The aircraft that was leased this past summer was F-GZTP, one of six 737-700s in the ASL fleet.

It takes anywhere from four and a half to five hours to fly between Saint-Pierre and Paris. There is no entertainment onboard the aircraft but passengers can expect meals and other refreshments.

Once the summer season ends and the 737 goes back to ASL Airlines full-time, passengers wanting to reach Saint-Pierre from France (or vice versa) must transit through Canada. Montréal-Trudeau is the most popular option as Air Saint-Pierre has regular flights there and the airport is well-connected to multiple French cities apart from Paris.

Have you ever heard of Air Saint-Pierre or have you ever flown them? Let us know what you think or what you have experienced below.