The "Sadness And Concern For The People Of SXM: Part IV - Lifeblood Of Tourism/PJIA" Story

The Princess Juliana International Airport in Sint Maarten

It was an ordinary day.  Posting my final story about Hurricane Irma and the tremendous damage caused by the category 5 hurricane.  As is true with most islands in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, the livelihood of the islands is tourism.  And, when your airport is almost totally destroyed, it makes more of an impact than most other locations on the island.  

Airport as it appeared in 1960

The Princess Juliana International Airport on the Dutch side of the island, known as Sint Maarten/St. Martin, is the vital link between island vitality and tourism.  The airport was first opened in 1942 as a military airstrip and a year later converted to a civilian airport.  In 1964 it was remodeled and relocated, with a new terminal building and control tower.  The facility was upgraded once again in 1985 and heavily modernized in the early 2000s.  It was at this point that we began to travel to what has become our favorite island destination as well as our second home. 

The airport as it appeared recently

This past year, during our visit to the island, we noticed that the upper-floor of PJIA was amazing with new shops, restaurants and the addition a rocking chairs where you could sit while you waited for your plane to load.  Then, on September 6th, all that changed once again.  The roof had been blown off parts of the terminal, the jetways were damaged and there was a significant aamount of sand and flooding on the runway.  

Recent damage from Irma can be seen in this photo.

The airport was in the news a few months ago, as well as on this blog, when a woman was killed while trying to hold onto a fence at the end of the runway while a plane began to fire up its jet engines in preparation for takeoff.  Popular Maho Beach is at the end of the runway where many gather to view planes land and take off.  But, the hurricane is a much bigger story than plane watching.  I'm sure that the island will concentrate on the airport and try to get it back in working order as fast as possible, since the island relies heavily air flight for their livelihood and most tourists arrive by airplane.  I have included some photos to show you what a daunting task the PJIA airport has before it. Here's hoping they can get the construction completed in a timely manner.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Damage to the airport can seen in this photo as well as the following

The Dutch Marines recently arrived to help keep peace on the island