Located in the northeastern corner of South America, the country of Suriname is home to just under 600,000 inhabitants. It also presently houses four different airlines, which serve various purposes. Let's take a quick look at how each of these carriers compares in terms of aspects such as their fleet and history.

Surinam Airways

The flag carrier is known either as Surinam Airways, or by the acronym SLM. This stands for Surinaamse Luchtvaart Maatschappij, meaning 'Surinamese Aviation Company' in Dutch. The airline came into existence in 1953, and started operations two years later. Its name was the Kappel-Van Eyck Aviation Company until 1962.

Over the years, Surinam Airways has operated a diverse range of aircraft. For example, as seen in the photograph above, ch-aviation.com shows that two Boeing 737 variants have graced its fleet. Nowadays, Surinam Airways is an all-Airbus affair. Specifically, it flies one A320-200 and one A330-200, both on lease.

Gum Air

The next-oldest of Suriname's active airlines is Gum Air, which was founded in 1971 by the Gummel family. These six brothers already had experience in the aviation industry, having established an agriculture airspray company known as Surinam Sky Farmers back in March 1964. But what does Gum Air look like today?

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Gum Air's current De Havilland Twin Otter aircraft are well over 40 years old. Photo: Rob Oo via Wikimedia Commons

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The airline is based at Paramaribo's Zorg en Hoop Airport (ORG). This facility is rather small, and thus not suitable for Surinam Airways' Airbus jets. However, this doesn't pose a problem for Gum Air, as its fleet consists of two small De Havilland DHC-6-300 'Twin Otter' turboprops. These are 44.6 years old on average.

Blue Wing Airlines

Blue Wing Airlines is another carrier that is based at Paramaribo's smaller Zorg en Hoop Airport. The airline was founded and commenced operations just over 20 years ago, in January 2002. Unfortunately, it was plagued by safety issues in its first decade and suffered three accidents (two fatal) between April 2008 and May 2010.

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The Cessna 208 Caravan has played a key role at Blue Wing Airlines over the years. Photo: Nardisoero via Wikimedia Commons

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In terms of the airline's fleet, Blue Wings' website presently lists several designs as being part of its operations. As seen in the photograph above, this includes three Cessna 208 Caravans, as well as two smaller Cessna 206 aircraft. The carrier also reportedly flies a single Reims-Cessna F406 Caravan II. Meanwhile, ch-aviation notes that the carrier's two DHC-6-200 Otters are 54 years old on average.

Fly All Ways

Fourth and finally, a much more recent arrival on the Surinamese aviation scene was Fly All Ways. This airline was founded in 2014 and commenced operations two years later using two ex-KLM Cityhopper Fokker 70 twinjets. Coincidentally, these aircraft had also previously flown for Surinam's Blue Wing Airlines.

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Fly All Ways is based at Paramaribo's larger Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport. Photo: Andrew J Muller via Wikimedia Commons

Today, Fly All Ways continues to fly two Fokker 70 aircraft, although only one is presently listed as being active. These rear-engined, Dutch-built jetliners have an average age of 25.7 years old. Meanwhile, ch-aviation also shows that Fly All Ways operates a single 12.3-year-old DHC-6-400 Twin Otter on a leased basis.

What do you make of Suriname's various airlines? Have you ever flown with any of them? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!