By Andrew Chen
Air Saint-Pierre’s Unique Transatlantic Domestic Route Returns
A small French territory of 6,000 people located off the Canadian east coast hosts a rare and unique transatlantic domestic route. Air Saint-Pierre’s seasonal service connecting the French overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon with mainland France returns this summer for its fourth season.
The route is offered by Air Saint-Pierre, Saint Pierre and Miquelon’s local airline. While its operations primarily connect the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon to nearby Canadian destinations using a small fleet of turboprop aircraft, the airline also operates a seasonal summer route between Saint-Pierre Airport and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. The once-weekly service returns this year on June 19, 2023.
Located approximately 12 miles off the coast of the eastern Canadian province of Newfound and Labrador, Saint Pierre and Miquelon consists of an archipelago of eight small islands. It has approximately 93 square miles of land and a population of around 6,000 residents. Despite being surrounded by Canada, it is distinctly French: street signs are written in French and have European designs, cars have European-style license plates and the local currency is the Euro.
As the last remaining part of New France – the once-vast area of North America under French colonial rule – Saint Pierre and Miquelon is now an overseas collectivity of France. While overseas departments and regions like Guadeloupe and Réunion have the same status as mainland regions of France, overseas collectivities like Saint Pierre and Miquelon and French Polynesia have semi-autonomous status.
Since Saint Pierre and Miquelon is a series of islands, access to the archipelago is only possible by sea or air. A ferry connects Saint-Pierre and Fortune Bay in Newfoundland and Labrador, while Air Saint-Pierre provides air service to the territory’s two airports.
Saint-Pierre is the capital of the territory and home to approximately 90 percent of the population. As such, most of Air Saint-Pierre’s flights are based out of Saint-Pierre Airport, with Miquelon Airport only having a short flight connecting it to Saint-Pierre. Air Saint-Pierre is the lone airline that serves Saint-Pierre Airport, which has a small terminal and a single 5,908-foot runway.
Since its founding in 1964, Air Saint-Pierre has operated a variety of aircraft on its inter-island flights and its flights to Canada, including the Beechcraft Model 18, the Douglas DC-3 and the Hawker Siddeley HS 748. Today, it operates a fleet of three turboprop aircraft, consisting of one 46-seat ATR 42-600 and two Reims-Cessna F406s with eight seats each. In addition to its route connecting the two islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, it also connects Saint-Pierre with Canadian airports like Halifax Stanfield International Airport, Montréal–Trudeau International Airport and St. John’s International Airport.
Air Saint-Pierre ATR 42-500 at Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in 2015 (Photo: Gilbert Hechema (Wikimedia Commons), licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License Version 1.2)
Air Saint-Pierre launched a transatlantic service between Saint-Pierre Airport and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in the summer of 2018. Despite the airline’s founding in 1964 and the construction of Saint-Pierre’s current airport in 1999, there had been no direct service between Saint Pierre and Miquelon and mainland France until the establishment of this route. The service operated in 2018 and 2019 but was paused in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The route returned in the summer of 2022.
Given the fact that Air Saint-Pierre’s turboprops are unable to make the transatlantic crossing, the airline wet leases a Boeing 737-700 from ASL Airlines France for the route. The aircraft has an all-economy configuration with 148 seats.
The route is scheduled to operate from June 19 to September 5, 2023. Eastbound flights leave St-Pierre every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. and arrive in Paris at 8:05 p.m., making it a rare daytime transatlantic flight. Westbound flights are scheduled to leave Paris on Mondays at 4:30 p.m. and arrive in St-Pierre at 6:30 p.m. The route offers some of the shortest transatlantic flights available, with an eastbound flight time of five hours and 35 minutes and a westbound flight time of six hours.
Air Saint-Pierre is also unique in the fact that it offers fixed pricing on its routes. The carrier’s website lists fares for all its routes. Adult fares on its Paris route start from 589 Euros ($637) for the westbound flight and 623 Euros on the eastbound flight.
Andrew is a lifelong lover of aviation and travel. He has flown all over the world and is fascinated by the workings of the air travel industry. As a private pilot and glider pilot who has worked with airlines, airports and other industry stakeholders, he is always excited to share his passion for aviation with others. In addition to being a writer, he also hosts Flying Smarter, an educational travel podcast that explores the complex world of air travel to help listeners become better-informed and savvier travelers.
