Binter Canarias
Binter Canarias S.A. is the flag carrier of the Spanish autonomous community of the Canary Islands, based on the grounds of Gran Canaria Airport in Telde, Gran Canaria and Tenerife North Airport, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain. It is a regional air carrier operating inter-island services within the Canary Islands, and other Atlantic islands, it also operates to the Spanish Mainland, Portugal and some African destinations. Affiliated airlines operate on behalf of Binter in services to Morocco, mainland Spain and Portugal.
History
Foundation and early years
The airline was established on 18 February 1988 and started operations on 26 March 1989. It was formed as a subsidiary of Iberia. Binter Canarias began operations as a regional airline and is currently the only one to operate in the eight airports of the Canaries. Binter also operates connections with Marrakesh, Dakar, Aaiun in Africa; Madeira, and Lisbon in Portugal; Sal in Cape Verde; and Vigo and Mallorca in Spain. The airline also flies to the island of Madeira, serving the capital Funchal. Regular flights to the cities of Bergamo and Paris were trialled but later cancelled as unsuccessful projects. Nowadays has regular flights to Lisbon and Cape Verde for renting technical crew and aircraft to Air Nostrum. The airline also serves Africa: it operates scheduled flights to Marrakesh, Casablanca and Laayoune in Morocco, alongside charter flights to Nouadibou and Nouakchott in Mauritania.In late 1999 SEPI implemented the privatisation of Binter Canarias, but held on to a "golden share", permitting it to authorise any future shareholding deal of more than 25%. However, the airline was wholly owned by Hesperia Inversiones Aéreas, which bought the airline in July 2002. In 2003, Binter Canarias, SAU was absorbed by Hesperia Inversiones Aéreas, SA, which took the name of Binter Canarias, SA. It is now owned by Ilsamar Tenerife, Ferma Canarias Electrica, Agencia Maritima Afroamericana, Flapa and others and has 406 employees. Binter has sales offices, Binter Vende, at the airports, and since 2005, the ground support service has been provided by Atlántica Handling. Since January 2008, the technical service for Binter aircraft has been provided by BinterTechnic.
Development since 2010
Some of the owners of Binter Canarias decided to buy Navegacion y Servicios Aéreos Canarios and to transfer some planes from Binter to NAYSA in order to reduce costs and increase benefits. The airline also established Canarias Airlines as a low-fare subsidiary in 2011.In 2016, the airline agreed a deal for a further six ATR 72-600 aircraft, bringing total commitments to the type to 18. They will replace ATR 72-500 aircraft. In spring 2018, Binter decided to merge Navegacion y Servicios Aéreos Canarios into its own operations and therefore handed back NAYSA's air operator certificate. Since then, all former NAYSA operations are part of Binter's.
Since late 2017, Binter Cabo Verde took over inter-island flights in Cape Verde after the discontinuation of flights by TACV on 1 August 2017, as TACV was restructuring and privatising. Binter CV established a partnership covering TACV's international services, allowing TACV to offer connections to domestic destinations and seeking to strengthen inter-island connections. In 2019, Binter Cabo Verde was renamed as Transportes Interilhas de Cabo Verde, and in 2021, the Canarian company sold its 70% stake in the airline to BestFly Worldwide, thus completing its divestment.
In June 2018, it began domestic operations between Madeira and Porto Santo Islands in the northern neighboring Madeiran archipelago.
The airline's first of ten Embraer E195-E2 aircraft started passenger revenue service in December 2019 as the European launch customer.
In June 2023, Binter launched an additional subsidiary alongside Canarias Airlines. This subsidiary, Naysa Servicios Aéreos, uses the name of the former carrier which had been merged into Binter and Canarias Airlines in 2018.
Binter's original AOC - named Binter Airlines since 2015 - now exclusively operates the E195-E2 jet fleet, having disposed of its last ATR 72-500 in September 2024 after transferring its newer ATR 72-600 aircraft to Naysa. Alongside Canair and Naysa, this AOC operates under the Binter Canarias parent brand.
Destinations
As of August 2024, Binter Canarias serves the following destinations:| Country | Destination | Airport | Notes | Refs |
| Cape Verde | Sal | Amílcar Cabral International Airport | ||
| France | Lille | Lille Airport | ||
| France | Marseille | Marseille Provence Airport | ||
| France | Toulouse | Toulouse–Blagnac Airport | ||
| Gambia | Banjul | Banjul International Airport | ||
| Italy | Florence | Florence Airport | ||
| Italy | Venice | Venice Marco Polo Airport | ||
| Mauritania | Nouakchott | Nouakchott–Oumtounsy International Airport | ||
| Morocco | Agadir | Agadir–Al Massira Airport | ||
| Morocco | Fez | Fès–Saïs Airport | ||
| Morocco | Guelmim | Guelmim Airport | ||
| Morocco | Marrakesh | Marrakesh Menara Airport | ||
| Portugal | Madeira | Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport | ||
| Portugal | Porto Santo | Porto Santo Airport | ||
| Portugal | Ponta Delgada | João Paulo II Airport | ||
| Spain | El Hierro | El Hierro Airport | ||
| Spain | Fuerteventura | Fuerteventura Airport | ||
| Spain | Gran Canaria | Gran Canaria Airport | ||
| Spain | La Gomera | La Gomera Airport | ||
| Spain | La Palma | La Palma Airport | ||
| Spain | Lanzarote | Lanzarote Airport | ||
| Spain | Tenerife | Tenerife North Airport | ||
| Spain | Tenerife | Tenerife South Airport | ||
| Spain | A Coruña | A Coruña Airport | ||
| Spain | Asturias | Asturias Airport | ||
| Spain | Granada | Federico García Lorca Granada Airport | ||
| Spain | Ibiza | Ibiza Airport | ||
| Spain | Jerez de la Frontera | Jerez Airport | ||
| Spain | Madrid | Madrid–Barajas Airport | ||
| Spain | Menorca | Menorca Airport | ||
| Spain | Murcia | Región de Murcia International Airport | ||
| Spain | Palma de Mallorca | Palma de Mallorca Airport | ||
| Spain | Pamplona | Pamplona Airport | ||
| Spain | San Sebastián | San Sebastián Airport | ||
| Spain | Santander | Seve Ballesteros–Santander Airport | ||
| Spain | Valladolid | Valladolid Airport | ||
| Spain | Vigo | Vigo–Peinador Airport | ||
| Spain | Zaragoza | Zaragoza Airport | ||
| Senegal | Dakar | Blaise Diagne International Airport | ||
| Western Sahara | Laayoune | Hassan I Airport | ||
| Western Sahara | Dakhla | Dakhla Airport |
Codeshare agreements
- Azores Airlines
- Iberia
Interline agreements
- APG Airlines
- Hahn Air
Fleet
Current fleet
, Binter Canarias operates the following aircraft:| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers | Notes |
| ATR 72-600 | 26 | — | 72 | 14 operated by Canarias Airlines. 12 operated by Naysa Servicios Aéreos. |
| Embraer E195-E2 | 16 | — | 132 | |
| Total | 42 | — |
Previous fleet
The Binter Canarias fleet has previously included the following aircraft:- 31 ATR 72-202
- 1 Boeing 737-400
- 8 Bombardier CRJ200
- 3 Bombardier CRJ900
- 3 Bombardier CRJ1000
- 4 Douglas DC-9-30
Accidents and incidents
- On 18 October 2016, an ATR 72-600 operated by NAYSA diverted to Gran Canaria Airport, Canary Islands, Spain, due to problems with the left hand main landing gear. The aircraft operated on a training flight, RSC001K, out of Tenerife-Norte Los Rodeos Airport. Upon returning to Tenerife, it was detected that one or both tires of the left hand main gear had burst or deflated. It was decided to divert to Las Palmas where the aircraft flew two low passes over runway 03L. A safe landing was then carried out at 12:22 UTC.