BACKGROUND
  • 1995 : Entrepreneur and enthousiast Aviator, Hervé Nizard starts a Lobster trading business by air between the Caribbean islands. A Cherokee Six (N592PR) is leased from MAVERICK AVIATION. "ALBATROS" is set up and the first lobster flights start between Antigua, Barbuda, Nevis, St Barth, Fort de France and Saint François home base in Guadeloupe. Captain Philou joins ALBATROS in the first weeks. It is the start of a wonderful Aviator's adventure .
  • 1996 : In order to match the enormous demand for lobster flights out of Haïti where ALBATROS has opened a base, a huge project is started, again backed up by MAVERICK AVIATION : Return to service a DE HAVILAND HERON DH 114 (N585PR), four engine, 19 seater aircraft with 4500 Lbs payload. The aircraft is purchased in Puerto Rico, coming from the famous local company PRINAIR - actually AMERICAN EAGLE. The overhaul work starts. It will last for more than one year. A test flight will be conducted which will end on 2 out of 4 engines, and the project will finally be abandonned and the aircraft resold as was, where was, to even more crazy than we were !
  • 1998 starts the beginning of a new business : organisation of aerial cruises within the archipelago for tourists. These were the nice TPI good old days !
  • 1999 - 2003 : Facing a large increase of its aviation business, Hervé Nizard décides to re-organise and dives with enthousiasm and determination in the Commercial Air Charter business. There is the birth of AIR TROPICAL Inc. in partnership with another enthousiast aviator : Jean-Loup Ducray from Transcaraibes in St Barth's. A Partenavia P68 is purchased (F-OPCL) to upsize with the other P68 (F-OGVN) and the Cessna 207 Transcaraïbes fleet . As of 2001 , another P68 will join the fleet (F-OGVX).

AIR TROPICAL grows in the Air charter business serving a clientèle made of tourists coming to visit the islands, and local companies.

It is a wonderful human adventure between enthousiast aviators. AIR TROPICAL expands from its Saint Francois base and, thanks to new technologies and to the huge qualities of the various protagonists, manages to put at work together people geographically far away.

We shall meet, within this organisation backing up Jean-Loup Ducray in Paris and St Barth's and Hervé Nizard in Saint Francois. Vital Oudot, A real aviation encyclopedia, who will acceopt to emerge from its confortable retirement to assist us, and without whom nothing would have happened, Claude Geles, young retired from CERN in Geneva, full of ideas and energy, Pilot and flight instructor qualified on so many different aircrafts, who crosses the North Atlantic with a single engine aircraft or a Jet as easily as others would fly a pattern, and pilots who stayed short term or longer but whom, al , shared this aviation enthousiasm and appeared to be respectfull Caribbean aviators.

No matter this "Dream Team", the entrepreneur and enthousiast aviator finds himself facing the irrealist French aviation regulation, as made for Air France. Add to this the absence of help and even sometimes the clear will to jeopardize the operators business from the local authorities, and it will lead to the decision to abandon this Commercial charter business representing 80 % of its workload and -20 % of the company's revenue.

Great to be a French entrepreneur !

 

  • 2001 - 2003 : In the meantime, Thanks to MAVERICK AVIATION effortless will, a new business is started for 2 customers having decided to purchase their own aircraft. Private and corporate aviation management. A first base is opened in Canefield - Dominica from where we do manage one and now two Partenavia Viator twin turboprops (N901TP-N904TP), then another one in St Kitts where we manage a Piper Navajo Chieftain (N132MF). The company expands and invest to purchase the maintenance hangar located on St Francois airport in order to have a more efficient tool with Wood Aerotech joining the network.
  • 2004 : AIR TROPICAL décides to concentrate only onto this new program of Aircraft management.
The " NO PLANE , NO GAIN " concept is launched .