Saint Maarten Airport Opens Temporary Arrivals Facility

Saint Maarten’s storm-ravaged Princess Juliana International Airport took another step back toward normalcy with the opening of a temporary arrivals pavilion last week. The airport’s commercial terminal was heavily damaged by Category 5 Hurricane Irma in September, and once the airport reopened to commercial flights, all arriving aircraft had to be processed through the FBOs situated in the lightly damaged general aviation terminal. Interior demolition and mold remediation in the passenger terminal began at the end of January, ahead of the major renovation project, which is expected to be completed by January 2019.

The 8,100-sq-ft arrivals pavilion, adjacent to the departure pavilion that opened just over a month ago in the airport’s parking lot, is carpeted and air conditioned and features immigration and customs, food and beverage services, as well as car rental desks. With this addition, the FBOs, among them ExecuJet and Signature Flight Support affiliate Arrindell Aviation, will be returned to the exclusive support of private aviation.