St Maarten airport welcomes record-breaking 9 lakh passengers in first-half of 2024

This is a significant development for the tourism sector of St Maarten, as Princess Juliana International Airport welcomed around 945,205 passengers in the first half of 2024.

As per the statistics, this remarkable growth in the arrival of passengers has surpassed the benchmark year, 2016 which witnessed the arrival of around 1.85 million passengers to the country.

With such growth in the passenger arrivals, the airport of St Maarten is anticipating to cross 1.7 million passenger movements, which would initially project to be 1.55 million. The authorities called it a strong summer season for the country as the airport has made a significant recovery and outperformed the numbers from their previous best year.

While shedding light on this growth, the CEO of Princess Juliana International Airport, Brian Mingo stated that it has been a major achievement for the entire team. He shared about their aim of sustaining this positive trend and continue to build on this after COVID-19 pandemic.

The CEO also emphasised on remaining cautious as the travel industry is highly susceptible to fluctuations. He added that they will implement strategic measures in order to be prepared for unforeseen situations.

Brian Mingo continued to say that this milestone has come out after the airport opened its new departures hall in January 2024. He further asserted that following the successful launch of the check-in area and departure hall in January 2024, the airport is now eagerly counting down to the completion of the new Arrival Hall.

While emphasising on this arrival hall, he noted that the passengers will get a opportunity to more welcoming and efficient arrival experience. The CEO mentioned that the entire terminal building and the Arrival Hall will be fully operational by the start of the fourth quarter of 2024, offering a peak holiday season that will begin in November 2024.

Moreover, the authorities are expecting positive numbers for the winter season as well and are anticipated the rise to between 8000 and 9500 in the daily passengers.

Notably, the management of the Princess Juliana International Airport have also shared their Weekend Peak Hours and are expecting the airport to be busy with the arrival and departure of large number of passengers.

While sharing the details, the authorities noted that on Friday, 23^rd August 2024, they are anticipating the arrivals of more than 500 passengers with the departure of over 1000. Meanwhile, on Saturday, the airport officials are expecting to welcome 700 passengers and see 1500 departures.

Also, on Sunday, the Princess Juliana International Airport is hoping to welcome more than 1000 passengers and is expecting the departure of 500 passengers.