Princess Juliana International Airport

Princess Juliana International Airport
Characteristics
ICAO code	TNCM
IATA code	SXM
Coordinates	18 ° 2 '27 "  N , 63 ° 6' 32"  W Coordinates: 18 ° 2 '27 "  N , 63 ° 6' 32"  W.
Height above MSL	4 m (13  ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	7 km northwest of Philipsburg
Basic data
opening	1942 for the military 1943 for passengers
operator	Princess Juliana International Airport Operating Company NV
surface	64 ha
Terminals	1
Passengers	1,840,212 (2016)
Air freight	5,992 t (2014)
Flight movements	62,144 (2016)
Capacity ( PAX per year)	approx. 2.5 million
Employees	268 (2014)
Start-and runway
10/28	2300 m × 45 m asphalt
website
sxmairport.com

The Princess Juliana International Airport is an airport in the Dutch part of the island of St. Martin in the Caribbean . The airfield was built by US engineer units during World War II and initially served as a military airfield for the Allies, who used it to monitor the Caribbean's waters. It was "opened" in 1944 by the future Queen Juliana during a secret trip to the Netherlands Antilles and has been named after her ever since.

Flight rules / technical details

The ticket hall of the airport

The airport does not have an instrument landing system , only VOR / DME and visual approach procedures . In addition, there are several hills at a relatively short distance behind runway 10, so that aircraft taking off quickly gain altitude and have to make a right turn as early as possible (see section Special features ). The runway is only 2,300 meters long, which means that the take-off weight for wide-body aircraft is limited. The airport is served by machines of various sizes: in addition to small sports machines and regional aircraft such as the De Havilland DHC-8, there are also four- engine jets such as the Boeing 747 and the Airbus A340 . Due to the short runway, a Boeing 747 cannot reach distant destinations directly, as it would need a longer runway with a full tank. For this reason, KLM initially heads for Curaçao or Aruba and Corsair Martinique or Guadeloupe to refuel there for the onward flight.

Airlines and Destinations

The airport is served from Europe by Air France with A340-300 ( Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle ), KLM ( A330-200 , Amsterdam ), twice a week by Air Caraïbes (A330-200) from Paris-Orly and irregularly in charter flights from Corsair International (A330, Paris-Orly) served. Air Canada Rouge and other airlines from North America and the Caribbean offer daily scheduled connections to the USA, Canada and the Caribbean islands. Princess Juliana International Airport serves as the home airport for the Caribbean airline Winair (Windward Island Airways).

In the air freight sector is flying Amerijet International goals Miami , Santiago de los Caballeros and Santo Domingo on.

In the past, the airport was served by several airlines with the Boeing 747. The last approach and take-off of a 747 (KLM) took place on October 28, 2016.

particularities

Arrival times

Airbus A340 of Air France on the final approach

Plane just before touching down over the beach

Hills to the east require rapid climbing

Warning sign on the beach

A special attraction of the airport is its location. The landing threshold of runway 10 is just a few meters from Maho Beach . Due to the hilly terrain in the east, you can only land on runway 10 if you are coming from the west; the planes cross the beach at a height of around 10 to 20 meters. When taxiing for take-off , sand and small stones are thrown up by the thrust jet of the engines . Because the planes usually take off in an easterly direction and have to gain altitude quickly because of the hills there, full thrust is often built up while stationary before the brakes are released. It is therefore dangerous for spectators to stay on the beach directly in front of the runway.

Because of the rare opportunity to observe aircraft on their deep final approach over a tropical sandy beach, the airport is known and loved by plane spotters worldwide . In addition, daredevil tourists gather directly at the airport fence every day and fight against the power of the turbine jets of planes taking off (so-called “fence surfing”). Warning signs from the airport operator indicate that the exhaust gas from aircraft taking off and landing can cause serious, even fatal injuries. However, this is exactly what happened on July 12, 2017, when a 57-year-old New Zealander could no longer hold on to the boundary fence in the jet of a Boeing 737-800 taking off, was thrown her head against a concrete block and died shortly afterwards in hospital from her injuries.

To inform the onlookers, the daily flight movements (airlines, landing times and departure locations) on the beach next to the runway are handwritten by a restaurant operator on an upright surfboard and are regularly updated.

In order to meet the current ICAO requirements, the construction of the RESA (runway end safety area) with a length of 90 m began on March 8, 2010 . For this purpose, land was heaped up at the eastern end of the runway and a road was laid. Construction work was completed in early 2011.

In September 2017, the airport was badly damaged by Hurricane Irma .

expansion

The airport has been expanded several times in order to be able to accommodate the expected future passenger volume of 2.5 million passengers per year. The newest terminal was opened by Queen Beatrix in early November 2006 .

Incidents

• On May 2, 1970, a Douglas DC-9 of Overseas National Airways ( aircraft registration number N935F ), which was to operate the ALM 980 scheduled flight from New York to Sint Maarten on behalf of ALM Antillean Airlines , was canceled after several landing approaches on the Princess, which were canceled due to poor visibility Juliana Airport diverted to Saint Thomas . However, the aircraft could no longer reach the airport there due to insufficient fuel reserves. After ditching about 50 km east-northeast of the island of Saint Croix , only 40 of the 63 inmates could be rescued; 22 passengers and one crew member were killed in the accident.
• On October 29, 2014, a Short 360 -200 of the American company Skyway Enterprises (aircraft registration number N380MQ ), which was to carry air freight to San Juan , Puerto Rico on behalf of FedEx , crashed immediately after taking off from runway 28 off the coast of Sint Maarten Sea. Both pilots were killed in the crash.

Web links

Commons : Princess Juliana Airport  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Princess Juliana International Airport. Airport website. Princess Juliana International Airport Operating Company NV(English). 
• Aviation Photo Search: Philipsburg / St. Maarten - Princess Juliana (SXM / TNCM). Numerous photos from the airport. In: Airliners.net (English).
• Best of St. Maarten Airport. Compilation of start and country scenes at Maho Beach (video).
• 747 Landing - St. Maarten. Video of a landing Boeing 747 from Maho Beach perspective with tourists.
• KLM 747 Extreme Jet Blast blowing people away at Maho Beach, St. Maarten. Video of a Boeing 747 taking off and blowing tourists into the sea.
• Airport data on World Aero Data ( 2006 ).
• Airport data Sint Maarten Juliana Airport in Aviation Safety Network (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} AD2.1TNCM. (PDF; 242 kB) eAIP with the official airport data. In: eAIS / eAIP-Publications / 2020-03-26. Dutch Caribbean Air Navigation Service Provider (DC-ANSP), March 2, 2017, accessed April 26, 2020 . 
2. ^ ^{A b} SXM Princess Juliana International Airport: Leading the Way - 2014 Annual Report . Princess Juliana International Airport Operating Company NV, Sint Maarten 2014, 8.0 Airport Facts, p. 60 (English, sxmairport.com [PDF; 14.2 MB ; accessed on April 26, 2020]).
3. ↑ Statistical Yearbook 2017 . Department of Statistics Sint Maarten, Philipsburg, Sint Maarten 2017, 12. Transport and Communication: 12.2 Passenger Movements at Princess Juliana Airport, p. 60 (English, stat.gov.sx [PDF; 13.7 MB ; accessed on April 26, 2020]).
4. ^ SXM Princess Juliana International Airport: Leading the Way - 2014 Annual Report . Princess Juliana International Airport Operating Company NV, Sint Maarten 2014, 3.3 Cargo Movements, p. 26–29 (English, sxmairport.com [PDF; 14.2 MB ; accessed on April 26, 2020]).
5. ↑ Statistical Yearbook 2017 . Department of Statistics Sint Maarten, Philipsburg, Sint Maarten 2017, 12. Transport and Communication: 12.1 Aircraft Movements at Princess Juliana Airport, p. 60 (English, stat.gov.sx [PDF; 13.7 MB ; accessed on April 26, 2020]).
6. ^ SXM Princess Juliana International Airport: Leading the Way - 2014 Annual Report . Princess Juliana International Airport Operating Company NV, Sint Maarten 2015, Airport Key Figures, p. 7 (English, sxmairport.com [PDF; 14.2 MB ; accessed on April 26, 2020]).
7. ↑ St. Maarten Airport - Most dangerous airport in the world? In: Urlaubmachen 365 - The online travel magazine. LOMI Webzauber GbR, March 18, 2013, accessed on April 26, 2020 . 
8. ^ Fatal accident at Sint Maarten airport. In: aero.de aviation news. Aviation Media & IT GmbH, July 13, 2017, accessed on April 26, 2020 . 
9. ↑ Security Information. In: sxmairport.com. Princess Juliana International Airport Operating Company NV, accessed April 26, 2020 . 
10. ^ Princess Juliana International Airport - Annual Report 2010: Soaring at New Heights . Princess Juliana International Airport Operating Company NV, Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten January 2012, 3rd Year in Review - March: RESA Works Underway, S. 16 (English, sxmairport.com [PDF; 3.7 MB ; accessed on April 26, 2020]).
11. ↑ AD 2 TNCM-15 ADC. (PDF; 1.83 MB) Airport map of the Princess Juliana International Airport. In: eAIS / eAIP-Publications / 2020-03-26. Dutch Caribbean Air Navigation Service Provider (DC-ANSP), May 20, 2015, accessed April 26, 2020 . 
12. ^ Benjamin Zhang: Hurricane Irma has severely damaged one of the most famous airports in the world. In: businessinsider.com. Business Insider Deutschland GmbH , September 6, 2017, accessed on April 26, 2020 (English). 
13. ↑ National Transportation Safety Board (ed.): Aircraft Accident Report 71-8: Overseas National Airways, Inc., Douglas DC-9, N935F, operating as Antilliaanse Luchtvaart Maatschappij Flight 980, near St. Croix, Virgin Islands, May 2, 1970 . Washington, DC March 31, 1971 (English, ntsb.gov [PDF; 1.9 MB ; accessed on April 26, 2020]).
14. ↑ Aircraft accident data and report for Shorts 360-200 N380MQ in the Aviation Safety Network , accessed on April 26, 2020.