Canada has become one of the strongest-performing international markets for Guadeloupe Airport Maryse Condé, as the French Caribbean gateway recorded a sharp rise in Canadian passenger traffic during March 2026 while regional connectivity continued to reorganise after the collapse of Air Antilles.
According to the airport ’s latest traffic figures, routes linking Guadeloupe with Canada carried 18,963 passengers in March, up 20.4% year-on-year. The performance reflects growing demand from Canadian travellers and reinforces the strategic importance of North American connectivity for Caribbean destinations seeking to diversify beyond their traditional European markets.
The airport directly linked this growth to the recent launch of services to Toronto and Québec City, two routes that are helping expand Guadeloupe’s reach within the Canadian outbound leisure market.
North America gains momentum as Paris stabilises
While Canadian traffic surged, the airport’s historically dominant metropolitan France market remained broadly stable. Traffic on routes to Paris and Nantes reached 138,339 passengers in March 2026, compared with 137,815 during the same period last year, representing a modest increase of 0.4%.
The airport attributed that stability to a recovery in seat capacity on Paris services after previous supply adjustments.
The contrast between the mature Paris market and the rapid expansion of Canadian traffic highlights a broader shift increasingly visible across Caribbean aviation networks. Airports and tourism authorities throughout the region are seeking to reduce dependency on a limited number of source markets by strengthening links with North America, where demand recovery and spending power remain comparatively resilient.
For Guadeloupe, the latest figures suggest that strategy is beginning to translate into measurable traffic growth.
Caribbean recovery remains uneven after Air Antilles
Regional traffic also posted strong headline growth in March, with Caribbean passenger volumes increasing by 30.6% compared with March 2025. The airport cited strong performances from Caribbean Airlines as well as recovering demand on services to Santo Domingo and Cap-Haïtien.
Yet beneath that regional rebound, the figures also reveal a Caribbean network still adjusting to the suspension of Air Antilles operations.
Routes previously dependent on the carrier continue to experience significant declines. Traffic on the “Northern Islands” network fell 20.3% year-on-year to 12,278 passengers, while the Martinique–French Guiana corridor declined by 17.2%.
Those contrasting trends illustrate the uneven nature of regional aviation recovery in the French Caribbean. While some international and regional routes are successfully rebuilding traffic through new operators and revised network strategies, other inter-island markets remain structurally fragile following the disappearance of a major regional airline.
First-quarter traffic declines despite cargo growth
Overall, Guadeloupe Maryse Condé Airport handled 207,766 passengers in March. First-quarter traffic reached 641,799 passengers, representing a 2.6% decline compared with the same period in 2025.
According to the airport, that decline had been anticipated due to two major factors: the suspension of European cruise-related flights since December and the operational halt of Air Antilles.
The airport also pointed to the growing impact of European environmental regulation on aviation economics. The EU ETS carbon compensation mechanism, which applies to flights originating from Europe, is estimated to add around EUR 240 to a return ticket. Flights from mainland France remain exempt from the scheme.
Despite softer passenger volumes, cargo activity continued to strengthen. Air freight volumes handled by the airport increased by 6.5% since the beginning of the year, reaching 4,004 tonnes.
The airport added that geopolitical tensions in the Middle East had not yet affected traffic flows directly, although it warned that the recent surge in jet fuel prices and associated fuel surcharges remained a significant area of concern for the sector.
