St. Maarten Airport to Reopen to Limited Service

Dutch flagship carrier KLM has become the first major airline to announce a service resumption date at St. Maarten's Princess Juliana Airport.

The carrier plans to fly twice weekly to the Dutch territory from Amsterdam with a stopover in Curacao beginning Oct. 29.

Meanwhile, local St. Maarten carrier Winair will resume regular commercial service at Princess Juliana on Oct. 6.

The KLM frequency is down from the four-times weekly service that the carrier offered before the island was pounded by Hurricane Irma on Sept. 6, causing damages of up to $100 million at the airport, according to official estimates.

Irma struck Princess Juliana airport with wind gusts of up to 230 mph, damaging the roof and jet bridges, sending water into the terminal and destroying the perimeter fence. The airport has remained closed to commercial traffic since the storm.

Winair will resume regularly-scheduled commercial service this week with flights from St. Maarten to Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Barth and St. Kitts, the carrier said on its website. Other destinations could possibly be added.

In addition, Winair will offer special commercial and repatriation flights to and from Curacao and St. Maarten on Oct. 5, 7 and 10.

Due to damage at Princess Juliana, passengers will be processed at the facility's private aviation terminal.

Source: Travel Weekly