The Departure and Arrival operations at the Princess Juliana International Airport, SXM, are expected to return, albeit temporarily, to the ground floor of the Terminal Building in November. In a recent official statement, the Managing Board, comprising of CFO and Acting CEO Ravi Daryanani and COO, Michel Hyman, said this was another significant step in the rehabilitation of services at the award-winning airport, which had suffered severe damages at the hands of Hurricanes Irma and Maria last year. This caused major disruptions to its operations, with the Terminal Building rendered completely unusable.

The move will mean that the operational activities will be carried out from the former Baggage Claim through the B-Gates area at the Terminal Building. The “Phase 1 - Temporary Operations Facility,” project is currently in the tender process, with the Expression of Interest already in progress.

At present the Temporary Arrival and Departure Pavilions on the airside of the Princess Juliana International Airport are being used for operations, with departing passengers accessing the pavilions through the space between the bus holding area and the employee parking lot. 

The Temporary Departure Pavilion went into use on February 9, 2018, while the Temporary Arrival Pavilion was opened on March 23, 2018. The Departure Pavilion has a total capacity of 325 seats for passengers which will increase about three-fold to almost 1,000 seats when the transfer of operations has been completed.

It also has 18 airline check-in counters that will be almost doubled to 32 check-in positions with luggage scales once the move back into the Terminal Building takes place. All of this is being carried out in anticipation of an increase in long-haul flights in the Winter season by U.S. and Canadian carriers such as West Jet which has stated that it will be adding a second flight on November 1st, 2018.

“As we continue to build back better, stronger and smarter, the comfort and safety of all our users remain paramount in our deliberations, stressed COO Hyman.”