The new terminal and associated facilities officially opened in 2007. Phase 1 of the development was completed in 2001 when the apron extension was inaugurated. Alongside the essential terminal building requirements, the design included four passenger loading bridges and additional apron stands meaning that the aircraft parking apron can hold about 25 aircraft simultaneously. We also delivered a new master plan which included designs for aircraft pavements, additional apron stands, passenger loading bridges and the Air Traffic Control centre.Īs well as being earthquake and hurricane resistant, the new airport building was designed based on a ‘one-and-a-half-level’ concept with check-in desks and baggage claim on the ground floor and the departure lounge on the first floor. NACO was contracted to deliver the design of the new terminal building to meet the estimated future capacity of up to 2.9 million annual passengers.
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How to find cheap flights from SXM with Expedia On Expedia, youll see the best offers. Once completed, the new terminal would also be used to provide shelter to local residents in the event of a natural disaster. is the airport in and uses the airport code: SXM. The new building had to be both earthquake and hurricane resistant while remaining within the constraints of the airport’s budget. With an average of 1.6 million passengers per year, the airport needed a new, state-of-the-art terminal building to replace outdated facilities. This impedes rapid economic recovery of the country considering the high economic dependency of the tourism sector on passengers travelling through the airport.Princess Juliana International Airport is the main airport on the island of St. Even after temporary restoration, the airport terminal can currently handle only 70% of the passenger demand before the hurricane. Since the Hurricanes, passenger demand and airport capacity have weakened significantly and as a result, PJIAE’s revenues have lowered too. Although the main steel structure is quite solid and has not suffered, the terminal has not been fully functional still now. Due to the roof damage, salty water (mix of rainwater and salt spray from the large breaking waves at sea) entered the building, resulting in significant damage to equipment and the facilities inside and subsequent mold growth. The roof of the terminal building was destroyed, the entrance doors were blown out. The passenger airport terminal, a four-story building and the air traffic control tower were severely damaged by the strong wind and rainwater. PJIA’s terminal building and facilities were severely damaged during Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria and have not been fully functional since then. This airport also serves as an important air hub in the region for Saba and Statia as well as other smaller islands such as Anguilla and St. Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) is the main international airport serving the entire island of Sint Maarten, for both Dutch and French sides. The Airport Terminal Reconstruction Project consists of four project components: In the long term, the reconstruction will contribute to sustainable economic growth of Sint Maarten. A more resilient airport will ensure sustainable airport operation as well as disaster relief and emergency activities during the future natural disaster events. The terminal reconstruction will promote more tourists to come back to the islands and improve financial situation of PJIAE through receiving more revenues from passengers as well as terminal vendors, most of which are currently closed. Restoring airport capacity is vital to economic recovery considering high economic dependency of the tourism sector on tourists’ arrivals through the airport. Airport reconstruction is paramount to promote swift recovery given the importance of tourism to the Sint Maarten economy as well as the sustainability of the airport operation.
Reconstruction of the airport terminal with improved resilience to hurricanes is a high priority for the Government of Sint Maarten.