Summary
- Saint Pierre to Paris CDG is the shortest transatlantic route to mainland Europe.
- It is not long-haul at 2,315 nautical miles (4,288 km) each way.
- It is the only North America-Europe route to use the Boeing 737-700.
Saint Pierre is the capital and largest city of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, a self-governing part of France just off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada. It covers 93 square miles (242 square km) and has just 6,000 people. Its citizens are French, and the Euro is the official currency.
The local airline is – lo and behold – the tiny turboprop-operating Air Saint-Pierre. Even more excitingly, its time-limited, summer-seasonal operation to Paris CDG – using a wet-leased Boeing 737-700 – has resumed.
It is served weekly
First flown in 2018, subsidized Saint Pierre-Paris CDG flights returned on June 17 and the next day in the other direction. On a Great Circle basis, the distance is just 2,315 nautical miles (4,288 km) each way.
It is so short that it doesn’t cover enough distance to be considered long-haul. Based on the cut-off point I use in my articles, it is 285 nautical miles (528 km) too short.
It is scheduled as follows, with all times local. Block time includes taxi time at both airports, flight time (factoring in wind), and a period for slot delays. It reflects slot possession.
- Paris CDG-Saint Pierre: PJ637, 16:00-18:30 (6h 30m block time); Mondays
- Saint Pierre-Paris CDG: PJ638, 10:30-20:05 (5h 35m); Tuesdays
Just 12 roundtrip flights are planned, with the last departure back to Europe on September 3. The aircraft and crew remain overnight in Saint Pierre and return the next day, reducing costs and increasing ASL’s aircraft and staff productivity.
Aviation video maestro Noel Philips just flew this route. A video will be out soon; be sure to check it out. He kindly let me use some photos.
What aircraft is it using?
Air Saint Pierre is using 17.5-year-old F-GZTP wet-leased from ASL Airlines France. According to ch-aviation and the airline’s schedule submission to OAG, it has 148 seats in an all-economy layout.
Photo: ASL Airlines France
Funnily enough, Flightradar24 indicates that Air Saint-Pierre also used the exact registration on the airport pair in the summers of 2021, 2022, and 2023.
What makes the route stand out?
Thanks to Iceland, Ireland, the Azores, Madeira, and more, it is only the 17th-shortest North America-Europe service (excluding Greenland). However, it covers the least distance of all transatlantic routes to mainland Europe, based on examining all services using OAG data. But that’s not all:
- Saint Pierre’s sub-6,000-foot runway (!) may limit the payload if flights are sufficiently full.
- It is the only North America-Europe domestic route, although Noel Philips told me that his passport was still checked, so it isn’t strictly a true domestic service.
- It operates during the day back to Europe, which is always unusual.
- Out of 430 non-stop peak summer routes, it is one of 10 across the North Atlantic with only a weekly service.
- It has one of the shortest operating periods in the market.
- It is the only scheduled transatlantic flight on the 737-700 and, indeed, on any Next Generation 737 aircraft.
- Only all-business operator La Compagnie and high-premium JetBlue are using lower-capacity equipment between the two continents this summer.
What do you make of it all? Let us know in the comments section.