Flights resuming at St. Maarten Airport
One of the world’s most iconic airports will be back in business in a matter of days.
St. Maarten’s Princess Juliana International Airport is set to reopen after suffering major damage during Hurricane Irma.
The air traffic control tower suffered severe water damage, the perimeter fence was almost obliterated and much of the airport’s heavy equipment was damaged.
However flight operations can soon restart, tourism minister Mellissa Arrindell-Doncher said.
"Even as we open our airport, we are still months away from restoring PJIA to its former glory," she said.
"There might be some inconvenience here and there, but we only ask a little patience as we work to get back to 100%."
It is estimated Irma caused about $100 million worth of damage at the airport.
"We are in discussion with all of the airlines about the resumption of service to St. Maarten. St. Maarten as a destination has been hit hard and the road to recovery is long, but we still do have some hotel inventory that can be serviced and we still want potential investors here," she said.
KLM already announced it will resume twice weekly flights from Amsterdam later this month.
Princess Juliana International Airport is famed for its low flying approach of aircraft just meters above Maho Beach.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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