Let's talk about the unusual airport - Princess Juliana... Imagine: you are lying on the beach, basking in the rays of the sun, drying off after another swim in the warm sea, pouring warm sand in your palms, looking at the slowly passing clouds and suddenly... Instead of a seagull right above A huge airliner rushes past you with a terrible roar!
Under the wing of an airplane...Princess Juliana Airport
And this is not the script for an action-packed film. You can see and experience all this by visiting the island of St. Maarten in the Caribbean Sea. In the southwest of the island, on the territory of the self-governing state of the Netherlands, Sint Maarten, is located one of the most dangerous airports in the world - Princess Juliana Airport. Its danger is that it is located close to Maho Beach.
The length of the runway is very short, a little more than 2 km, so planes are forced to land, literally, flying no more than 20 meters above the heads of vacationers. At the same time, they create a huge air flow that forms waves. Landing liners create excellent conditions for windsurfers.
Probably, if they asked me: ? I would recommend Sint Maarten...
Princess Juliana Airport in the Dutch part of the island of St. Maarten is one of the largest air hubs in the Caribbean region. It is among the ten most dangerous airports in the world. In the seventeenth century, the conquistadors laid siege for a long time, but were never able to take possession of the island, which was divided between the Netherlands and France according to the oldest treaty of 1648. By the way, the agreement still has de jure force. In 1942, an airfield was hastily built here, which is now an international airport. Named after the Queen of the Netherlands, who visited here as Crown Princess in 1944, a year after the airport opened.
The runway is only 2,180 meters long - barely enough for large airliners. For heavy aircraft, such as a Boeing 747 or Airbus A340, this is not enough - but there are no other options for landing here. The pilots bring the plane to land right above the famous Maho Beach. That's why this place is so popular among plainspotters. Maho Beach is the perfect place to see low-flying aircraft in detail. It’s hard to believe the authenticity of the pictures: giant airliners fly at an altitude of 10-20 meters above the vacationers. Despite the unusual take-off and landing conditions, not a single accident was recorded here.
Saint Martin Island is the smallest piece of land in the world with dual citizenship. The northern part is regulated by the French government, while the southern side is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. English is spoken on both sides, with Dutch being the official language on the southern side and French on the northern half of the island. The island has two capitals - Marigot and Philipsburg. When they say Saint Martin, they mean the French part of the island, and Saint Martin (or Sint Maarten) means the Dutch part. There is also an airport on the French side of the island near Marigot, called Aéroport de Grand Case.
Terminal
The new four-story building offers all the services you need on the road. Air-conditioned premises, shops, pharmacies, ATMs, taxi and information counters. Wi-Fi is everywhere in the terminal.
You can land a plane at this unusual airport in the popular flight simulator game Microsoft Flight Simulator X. In the full version of the program, this mission is called “Caribbean Landing.”
How to get there
Rent a car. Here are the following car rental companies:
- Adventure Car Rental American Car Rentals
- Avis car rental Best Deal car rental
- Hertz Car Rental Lucky Car Rental
- Paradise Island Car rental Safari car rental
- Sidro United Sunshine Car Rental
- Thrifty Car Rental
You can ask the price and immediately book a car of any class on official websites.
Taxis drive tirelessly all over the island. Moving from the airport to the nearest city of Philipsburg will cost about $30.
Airport shuttles operate throughout the island. They don't have numbers; the route is written on the bus itself. The island is small, any transport moves freely throughout the entire territory.
Caribbean - sea, beaches and islands. This is an area popular among lovers of beach tourism, diving, surfing and much more exotic things. St Martin's Island is no exception to this. The island has it all. Beaches, exoticism, the Caribbean Sea and Caribbean flavor are brought together. The island of St. Martin is part of the Lesser Antilles archipelago and, accordingly, in the Caribbean Sea. Despite such a small area, 87 sq. km, the island is divided between two countries - France and the Netherlands.
The hilly terrain, sparsely covered with green forests and sandy beaches against the backdrop of the blue sea, attract travelers from many countries around the world. Surprisingly, getting to the island is not difficult. There is an international airport on the island. In 1942, during World War II, an airstrip was built on the island. In 1944, Crown Princess Juliana of the Netherlands visited the island and landed on this runway. A year later, the Dutch authorities opened a small airport on this site, which later grew into an international one.
Princess Juliana Airport, also known as Saint Martin International Airport, serves the Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin. In 2007, the airport served almost 1.7 million passengers and 104 thousand aircraft, which is its record to date. The airport serves as the air hub for the Windward Islands and is the main gateway to the smaller Leeward Islands, including Anguilla, Saba, St. Bartholomew's Island and St. Eustatius Island.
Princess Juliana Airport is one of the most dangerous airports in the world, with high landing difficulties. It gained such fame due to the very low altitude when landing on the runway, and also because Maho Beach and the sea are practically adjacent to the runway. The History Channel ranked it as the 4th most dangerous airport in the world.
Despite the fact that Princess Juliana Airport has a high landing difficulty, two accidents have occurred here in its history. The first occurred on May 2, 1970, when McDonnell Douglas DC-9CF Flight 980 crashed into the sea near the beach. 22 people out of 57 were killed. The weather at that time did not allow landing the first time, the pilots decided to make several more attempts, but, alas, they ran out of fuel. The second - on December 21, 1972, an Air France De Havilland Canada Twin Otter flight took off from Guadeloupe, but crashed into the sea on approach, killing all 11 passengers on board along with both pilots.
Maho Beach is a very popular tourist destination. People come here not only for swimming. The close proximity of Princess Juliana Airport and Maho Beach has caused a huge flow of photo tourists to come here. The plane, when landing, flies over the heads of tourists at an unaccustomed height of 20 meters, and sometimes flies at an altitude of 10 meters from the heads of tourists.
We can say that the island of St. Martin is more popular among photo tourists than among beach lovers. Almost everyone who comes to Princess Juliana Airport, after leaving the airport, does not go to the hotel, but goes straight to the beach to take a photo of themselves against the backdrop of a landing plane that flies overhead.
The size of the runway is also small. Only 2180 by 45 meters. The strip is capable of carrying up to 40 runs per hour. The area of the passenger terminal is 10,400 square meters. m, it also has 36 registration windows and 8 immigration terminals.
The island of Saint Martin (some use the name Sint Maarten) and its airport are located in the Caribbean Sea, which is one of the most popular tourist regions in the world. Almost every island that can be reached comfortably has development potential. There are two main ways to solve the delivery of passengers: ship or plane.
Sea and ocean cruises create a significantly smaller portion of the tourist flow compared to air transport. But the cost and complexity of air harbor infrastructure is significantly higher and sometimes requires non-standard solutions from engineers and architects.
The island of St. Martin in the Lesser Antilles archipelago has one of the most interesting airports in the world (ranked in the top 10 in terms of danger rating, according to Reuters). It also plays a major role in transport services to the surrounding areas: St. Eustatius, Saba, St. Barthelemy and Anguilla.
Princess Juliana Airport (full official name) has the ability to accommodate even large Boeing 747 class aircraft, although the runway, with a normal width of 45 m, is only 2300 m long, which is the maximum permissible value for some types of airliners. In this regard, takeoffs and landings taking place at a glide slope of 3° are considered the most dangerous in the Caribbean region.
The construction of the airport began with the construction of a military air base back in 1942. Although already in 1943, due to the lack of military operations in the region during the Second World War, it was converted into a civilian one. After 1964, it was reconstructed and a new control tower and terminal appeared. After 1985, it was modernized, so it began to be able to accept long-haul classes of aircraft and fully comply with the high development of tourism in Sint Maarten.
Features of the air harbor
Here we can talk about a variety of factors.
The island has a relatively small area - only 87 km², with predominantly hilly terrain and tropical thickets.
The island is divided by different states: the northern part is the French overseas community of Saint-Martin, the southern part is the autonomous entity of Sint Maarten, subordinate to the Dutch crown.
Only after 1994 was the Franco-Dutch protocol on border control signed. The end of the landing strip abuts Maho Beach in the west of the Dutch part. Airplanes land and take off directly above the heads of tourists, 10-20 m above the surface.
Spectacular photographs and videos of airplanes bring incredible popularity to Princess Juliana among other airports in the world. Nearby there are several cafes and hotels that specialize in the island's most famous species. A loudspeaker is installed on the beach, which reports about planes approaching to land and broadcasts conversations between dispatchers and crew.
In the central part of Maho, wind speeds can reach 180 km/h, which can be very dangerous and even fatal for humans, but this does not stop curious tourists who try to take vivid photos and shoot videos of the aircraft.
In 2012, renowned photographer Josef Heflener published black-and-white spotter photographs from the area around the airport, including them in the book Jetliner: The Complete Works.
Infrastructure
The location and topography of the island of Sint Maarten did not allow for the construction of a full-fledged runway. Therefore, it was decided to build a runway of the minimum allowable length for long-haul airliners (for example, 747). The width was increased to 45 m. Radar systems provide a range of up to 460 km. The capacity is thus up to 30 flights per hour.
The dispatch service also provides control over other small airports in this area: Clayton J. Lloyd, L’Espérance, Gustaf III. The terminal, with an area of 30,500 m², can serve up to 2,500,000 passengers per year. In the entire history of the airport, not a single accident has been recorded, although this runway is considered one of the most difficult for airliner crews and air traffic control services.
Photos and videos from Sint Maarten airport
View of the island of Sint Maarten
There is probably no person who has not heard of the Caribbean. This place is famous for its beach tourism, diving, surfing and other exotic activities.
The island of St. Martin has attracted special attention, because it contains the Caribbean flavor, the sea, numerous beaches and exotic nature. It is part of both the Caribbean Sea and the Lesser Antilles, and is also the dividing link between two states - the Netherlands and France. Another attractive detail is that getting here is quite easy, because Princess Juliana Airport, which has international status, is located here.
It all started with the fact that back during the Second World War, or more precisely in 1942, the first runway was built on the island. Two years later, in 1944, Crown Princess Juliana of the Netherlands flew here on a personal visit, after whom this air hub was later named - Princess Juliana Airport.
Literally one year later it was no longer just a take-off/landing runway, but a small and cozy hub, which gradually grew into an international air hub. Locals also call it St. Martin's air terminal, since it serves the Dutch part of the population. In 1964, the building was completely reconstructed.
A little about the airport
The island of St. Martin is small in size and occupies only 87 km², which did not prevent it from gaining popularity and made it possible to locate the necessary air hub on its territory. Interestingly, this enterprise ranks 4th in the ranking of the most dangerous airports in the world.
This is explained by the fact that the end part of the runway is located directly on the seashore, closely adjacent to the territory of the famous Maho beach. When aircraft land or take off, the height is only 10 to 20 meters above the beach where crowds of tourists relax.
As for the main characteristics of the air hub, it is equipped with one runway with a length of 2.3 thousand meters, which is barely enough to accommodate large airliners. Its capacity per hour is from 36 to 40 runs. There is an aircraft taxiing area of 48 thousand m², a terminal area of 10.4 thousand m² with an annual capacity of 1.5 million people, about 36 registration points and 8 for immigrants. There is a separate cargo terminal located on an area of about 2 thousand m². A full-fledged parking area with an area of 10.3 thousand m² has been created.
A kind of record was set in 2007, when there was a large influx of tourists, and passenger traffic amounted to about 1.7 million people. The flights were carried out by more than 104 aircraft from different air carriers.
Opinions and impressions of tourists
It's rare that an airport terminal itself becomes something of a tourist attraction, but this hub has managed to achieve such unspoken status. As described earlier, the small beach is adjacent to the runway, and during peak hours it literally resembles an anthill of numerous vacationers who are waiting for the takeoff/landing of the next flight. It is at such moments that tourists try to take unique photos, because aircraft fly very low. The airport serves flights from companies such as KLM, Air France, United, Delta Air Lines and US Airways.
Even from remote corners of the island, people come here for a dose of extraordinary sensations. It’s not every day that you can see a picture when a multi-ton aircraft passes over crowds of observers several tens of meters above their heads.
Local authorities do not prevent this hobby, although in other countries such actions are prohibited from the point of view of tourist safety. Those who are vacationing here not for the first time recommend visiting the turtle beach, located nearby, but with fewer visitors. Its territory overlooks the runway fences, which allows you to admire the process of takeoff and landing of aircraft.
Outwardly, it looks quite attractive and unusual, although St. Juliana Airport is a difficult object to pilot. Landing is carried out in most cases according to visual indicators, since on one side the hub is surrounded by the sea, on the other by a mountain range. Experienced pilots know that in such cases the use of active piloting is required with the obligatory departure to the right side. The presence of wind, a natural phenomenon observed here quite often, forces pilots to take off towards the sea.
Some adventure and extreme seekers have found entertainment here, which involves maintaining balance on the water under the air currents emanating from the aircraft's jet engines, which has practically become almost a kind of sport. There are practitioners who have fun doing this on the beach, when air currents lift the sand, causing something like an artificial hurricane.
Nightlife on the island
When the sun sets, the focus of tourists moves towards restaurants, bars and clubs. Their main part is also made in the aviation style, and special speakers are installed on the stands, transmitting conversations between the hub dispatchers and aircraft pilots. Schedules of upcoming flights are written on surfboards so that tourists are always up to date.
In 2017, the Princess Juliana airport suffered significant damage due to the impact of a hurricane and was therefore closed for a certain period. Currently, there is no information about its closure, which means everyone can see with their own eyes all the beauties of the country, the island and the hub itself.
In recent years, interest in holidays in this region has increased, despite the fact that its cost can hardly be called low. The country's authorities are taking all measures to attract flows of vacationers by improving conditions, developing infrastructure and expanding the list of entertainment.
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