Queen Beatrix International Airport

Queen Beatrix International Airport Internationale luchthaven Koningin Beatrix Aeropuerto Internacional Reina Beatrix
IATA: AUA – ICAO: TNCA
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Aruba Airport Authority N.V.
Location	Oranjestad, Aruba
Hub for	Aruba Airlines Insel Air Aruba Tiara Air
Elevation AMSL	60 ft / 18 m
Coordinates	12°30′05″N 70°00′55″W / 12.50139°N 70.01528°W / 12.50139; -70.01528Coordinates: 12°30′05″N 70°00′55″W / 12.50139°N 70.01528°W / 12.50139; -70.01528
Website	airportaruba.com
Map
AUA  Location in Aruba
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 11/29 2,743 8,999 Asphalt
Source: DAFIF[1]

Queen Beatrix International Airport (IATA: AUA, ICAO: TNCA) (Dutch: Internationale luchthaven Koningin Beatrix; Papiamento: Aeropuerto Internacional Reina Beatrix), located in Oranjestad, Aruba, is an aviation facility. It has flight services to the United States, Trinidad and Tobago, most countries in the Caribbean, the northern coastal countries of South America, Canada and some parts of Europe, notably the Netherlands. It is named after Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, the now-retired Queen and former head of state of Aruba.

Overview

The airport offers US Border Pre-clearance facilities. A terminal for private aircraft opened in 2007. This airport used to serve as the hub for bankrupt airline Air Aruba, which was for many years an international airline. Before Aruba's separation from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986 it was also one of three hubs for Air ALM.

World War II

During World War II the airport was used by the United States Army Air Forces Sixth Air Force defending Caribbean shipping and the Panama Canal against German submarines. Flying units assigned to the airfield were:

• 59th Bombardment Squadron (9th Bombardment Group) 14 January-24 September 1942 (A-20 Havoc)
• 12th Bombardment Squadron (25th Bombardment Group) 10 October 1942 – 23 November 1943 (B-18 Bolo)
• 22d Fighter Squadron (36th Fighter Group) 2 September 1942 – April 1943 (P-40 Warhawk)
• 32d Fighter Squadron (Antilles Air Command) 9 March 1943 – March 1944 (P-40 Warhawk)

Airlines and destinations

A Delta 737-900 bound for Atlanta parked at gate 4

The air traffic control tower

The baggage claim area

The non-USA departures building

Delta Airlines ticketing counters

Walkway to security and US pre-clearance facilities

Passenger

Cargo

Statistics

Incidents and accidents

• 13 January 2010, an Arkefly Boeing 767-300 PH-AHQ operating flight OR361 from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport to Queen Beatrix International Airport declared an emergency after a man who claimed to have a bomb on board ensued a struggle with the flight crew, the aircraft made an emergency Landing at Shannon Airport. Gardai stormed the plane and arrested the man, where he was taken to Shannon Garda station. A passenger having had surgery earlier the month before collapsed in the terminal while waiting for the continuation of the flight and had to be taken to a local hospital. The replacement aircraft PH-AHY also a Boeing 767-300 continued the flight to Aruba.

See also

• Trams in Oranjestad

References

Citations

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

• Maurer Maurer (1 January 1982). Air Force Combat Units of World War II: History and Insignia. Zenger Publishing Company, Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-89201-092-9. 
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Queen Beatrix International Airport.

• Official Website
• Current weather for TNCA at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for AUA at Aviation Safety Network

USAAF Sixth Air Force in World War II Previously: Panama Canal Air Force (1940-1941); Caribbean Air Force (1941-1942) Airfields Caribbean Coolidge (Antigua) Dakota (Aruba) Batista (Cuba) Camaguey (Cuba) Hato (Curacao) Vernam (Jamaica) Arecibo (Puerto Rico) Borinquen (Puerto Rico) Losey (Puerto Rico) Benedict (Saint Croix) Beane (Saint Lucia) St. Thomas Airport (Saint Thomas) Carlsen (Trinidad) Piarco Airport (Trinidad) Waller (Trinidad) Canal Zone Albrook France Howard Panama Aguadulce Anton Calzada Larga Chame David La Chorrera Madden Patilla Point Pocri Río Hato Central and South America Belem (Brazil) Atkinson (British Guiana) Zandery (Dutch Guiana) Salinas (Ecuador) Baltra (Galápagos Islands) Guatemala City (Guatemala) Talara (Peru) Units Commands VI Bomber Command VI Fighter Command XXVI Fighter Command XXXVI Fighter Command VI Air Force Service Antilles Air Command Wings 6th Fighter 13th Bombardment 19th Composite 24th Composite Groups Fighter 16th Fighter 32d Fighter 36th Fighter 37th Fighter 53d Fighter Bomber 6th Bombardment 9th Bombardment 25th Bombardment 40th Bombardment Reconnaissance 72d Reconnaissance Squadrons 1st Depot Repair 20th Troop Carrier 23d Antisubmarine 91st Reconnaissance United States Army Air Forces First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth Ninth Tenth Eleventh Twelfth Thirteenth Fourteenth Fifteenth Twentieth