As you might be well aware, the
Caribbean island of Saint Maarten is divided between two countries – France and
Netherlands i.e. it has a joint border control arrangement between the
countries. Sint Maarten is the Dutch part of this island and is on the southern
side. It is home to the Princess Juliana International Airport. The airport was
started as a military airport in the year 1942 but later converted into a
public airport in 1943. It has been modernized from time to time in the years
1985, 2001 and 2006.
This Sint Maarten airport is
located at Simpson
Bay, sharing fencing with
the Maho beach. The airport is so close to the beach, that watching the
airplanes land and take off from the distance of merely 10-15 meters above sea
level has become an attraction in itself. More so as the aircrafts on arrival
or departure have to fly at a very low altitude to be able to land or take off
on the small airstrip. For the same reason it is counted as one of world’s
dangerous airports. But who cares!!! What is more fascinating is the amazing
landing pictures that you can take, be it from the aircraft or on the beach. Additionally
the jet blast from the aircrafts also creates artificial waves in the beach
waters and thereby excitement among the visitors.
Princess
Juliana International
Airport is one of the busiest airports
in the Caribbean islands as it is a gateway to the smaller Leeward Islands that
comprise of Anguilla, Saba, St. Eustatius, and
St Barthlemy. It is also the hub airport for Win Air and Insel Air. Other major
airlines that call on to Sint Maarten airport (IATA – SXM; ICAO – TNCM) are Air
Canada, Air France, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Dutch Antilles Express,
JetBlue Airways, KLM, US Airways, United airlines and many more. Some of these operate
fleets only seasonally.
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