Princess Juliana International Airport

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Coordinates: 18°02′27″N 063°06′32″W / 18.04083, -63.10889

Princess Juliana International Airport

IATA: SXM – ICAO: TNCM
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner Princess Juliana Int'l Airport Holding Company N.V.
Location Sint Maarten (St. Martin)
Elevation AMSL 13 ft / 4 m
Website www.pjiae.com
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
09/27 2,349 7,708 Asphalt

Princess Juliana International Airport (IATA: SXM, ICAO: TNCM) serves the Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin. It is the second busiest airport in the Eastern Caribbean, after Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In 2005, the airport handled 1,663,226 passengers.[1] The airport serves as a hub for Windward Islands Airways and is the major gateway for the smaller Leeward Islands, including Anguilla, Saba, St. Barthélemy and St. Eustatius. It is named after Juliana of the Netherlands, who was crown princess when the airport opened. There is also an airport on the French side of the island near Marigot, called Grand Case Airport or L'Espérance Airport.

Contents

[edit] History

The airport was started as a military airstrip in 1942. It was converted to a civilian airport in 1943. In 1964 the airport was remodeled and relocated, with a new terminal building and control tower. The facilities were upgraded in 1985.

[edit] Modernization

Because of increased passenger traffic and the expected growth of passenger traffic in the near future, Princess Juliana International Airport is being heavily modernized following a three-phased masterplan, commissioned in 1997.[2]

Phase I was a short-term programme in order to upgrade existing facilities and improve the level of service at various points. This included widening, strengthening and renovating the runway, increasing the bearing capacity of the taxiways, construction of a new apron and an upgrade of the (old) terminal. Phase I was completed in 2001.[3]

Phase II included the construction of a radar facility and a new air traffic control tower, the construction of a new and more modern, 27,000 m², terminal, capable of handling 2,5 million passenger per year, and the construction of a Runway End Safety Area (RESA) of 150 metres, including a 60 meter overrun, on both ends of its runway, to comply with ICAO rules. The new air traffic control tower and the radar station commenced operations on March 29, 2004, while the new terminal opened on November 10, 2006.[4]

If traffic develops as forecast, Phase III of the masterplan will be executed, consisting of an extension of the new terminal building and the construction of a full parallel taxiway system.[5]

However, the oil price increases since 2003 began impacting discretionary air travel worldwide by early 2008,[6] and the prospect of further price increases[7] threatens to reverse the recent expansion of tourist travel by jet which began with the 1980s oil glut.[8]

[edit] Landing strip

Video of airplane landing at Juliana International Airport, from here
Video of airplane landing at Juliana International Airport, from here

The airport is famous for its short landing strip — at only 2,180 metres/7,152 ft,[9] it is barely long enough for heavy jets to land. Therefore, larger planes approach the island flying extremely low, passing 10-20 meters (30-60 ft.) over relaxing tourists on Maho Beach. Photographs of this common occurrence have often been unjustly dismissed as fakes. The low-flying aircraft and challenging task of landing have made the airport one of the favorites among planespotters.

Despite the difficulties in approach, there has been no records of major aviation incidents at the airport. As of early 2007, KLM stopped its weekly Boeing 747 flight to Princess Juliana. Presently, the only airline to operate the jumbojet Boeing 747 to the airport is Paris based Corsairfly, at a frequency of once a week in low season (April through October) and twice a week in high season (November through March)[10].

Photos

A light aircraft on Approach to Princess Juliana Airport

New terminal building from the inside

This sign warns people that plane spotting on Maho Beach can be dangerous


[edit] Airlines and destinations

[edit] Cargo

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Traffic statistics
  2. ^ PJIAE Masterplan
  3. ^ Phase I
  4. ^ Phase II
  5. ^ Phase III
  6. ^ Adams, Marilyn. Rising costs reshaping air travel across the USA. USA Today. Retrieved on 2008-05-10.
  7. ^ Lesova, Polya (2008-05-06). Goldman Sachs: Oil Prices May Hit $150-$200 a Barrel. Fox Business Network. Retrieved on 2008-05-08.
  8. ^ Whipple, Tom. The Peak Oil Crisis: The Half-Life For Air Travel. www.inteldaily.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-10.
  9. ^ PJIAE Company Profile (2007)
  10. ^ Aviation Safety Network > ASN Aviation Safety Database > Airports > Sint Maarten-Juliana Airport profile

[edit] External links