Saint Martin Airport in the Caribbean Sea. Saint Martin Island reviews. Features of the air harbor
There is an unusual airport, considered one of the most dangerous in the world..
Princess Juliana International Airport is located in the Dutch part of the island, and is unique in that its runway starts almost right next to Maho Beach, and since its length is not very long (only 2300 meters), all planes land very low altitude right above the beach.
Gawk and take breathtaking pictures low flying aircraft- perhaps one of the most popular activities among the many tourists who flock to Maho Beach upon arrival aircraft. In many local bars and cafes you can see their arrival times.
But, despite such a harmless event from the outside as the landing of a liner, it can pose a real danger to people standing under it on the beach.
And the point is not even that the airliner can fall on people; by the way, in the entire history of the airport (it has been operating since 1942) there have never been such incidents here. The problem is the jet streams from landing and taking off airliners, which can blow you into the water. The authorities constantly warn about this - in addition to the barbed wire on the fence, adopted for those who want to sit on it, many corresponding shields are placed along the beaches.
In the entire history of the airport, there have been only 3 incidents here, two of them in the vicinity of the early 80s of the last century, and one at the airport itself quite recently - on January 14, 2014.
In 1970, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 passenger plane flying to Sint Maarten from the United States, after several unsuccessful attempts to land at the airport in bad weather, made an emergency landing directly into the Caribbean Sea. 22 of the 57 passengers and one crew member were killed. It turned out that the airliner ran out of fuel due to several attempts to land the plane, and most of the people died due to the fact that the crew was not informed about the upcoming hard landing on water, because of which they did not prepare and did not fasten their seat belts.
The second crash occurred on December 21, 1972 with a small twenty-seater De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft. It crashed at night in the ocean near Saint Martin on its way from Guadeloupe, killing all 11 passengers on board along with the two pilots.
And the third incident occurred a couple of days ago, when a Boenig-747 of the Dutch airline KLM, en route to a parking lot after landing on time, made a left turn instead of a right - because of it, at least 17 cars parked nearby were damaged by its jet stream. They had broken windows and damaged paintwork, but no injuries were reported.
Princess Juliana Airport in the Dutch part of the island of St. Maarten is one of the largest air hubs in the Caribbean region. Among the top ten dangerous airports peace. 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 to 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 - perfect place for a detailed look at low-flying aircraft. 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, Dutch is official language on the southern side, and French, respectively, on the northern half of the island. The island has two capitals - Marigot and Philipsburg. When they say Saint Martin, they mean French part islands, and St. Maarten (or Sint Maarten) is 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.
Land the liner in this unusual airport possible in the popular game - flight simulator Microsoft Flight Simulator X. full version 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.
There are also hotel shuttles. Many hotels on the coast have their own shuttle service.
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 by air. 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 Saint Martin from the Lesser Antilles archipelago has one of the most interesting airports in the world (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 accept even large planes class Boeing 747, although the landing strip, with a normal width of 45 m, is only 2300 m long, which is the maximum valid value for some types of liners. In this regard, takeoff and landing taking place on a glide path of 3° are considered the most dangerous in 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: Northern part- this is the overseas community of France 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 signed border control. 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 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
This is what Princess Juliana Airport looks like
In this regard, takeoffs and landings taking place at a glide slope of 3° are considered the most dangerous in the Caribbean region.
Princess Juliana Airport runway
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.
Runway
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.
- Saint Martin Island is an island in the Caribbean Sea, south Puerto Rico in the northern part of the ridge of small islands separating the Caribbean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean.
If you look at the map, the location of the islands of the Caribbean chain resembles a drawn bow aiming an arrow at the African continent.
Island Saint Martin It is interesting in that it was divided between France and Holland back in 1648, and this treaty of peaceful division is the oldest treaty of its kind and is still in force.
The northern part of the island is an overseas territory of France and is called accordingly Saint Martin
The southern part of the island is a self-governing state with significant autonomy, part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and is called Sint Maarten.
The island is small: its area is 83 sq km. The capital of the southern, Dutch part of the island is Philipsburg — major port, where cruise ships call daily, bringing thousands of tourists traveling around the Caribbean islands.
And so that tourists do not have to go far, all conditions have been created for them in Philipsburg itself: many restaurants, souvenir shops and alcohol stores at duty-free prices, a casino and, of course, many brothels.
Another difference between this part of the island: the American dollar is in use here and most tourists from North America: USA and Canada.
The population of this part of the island speaks English and 99% of them are blacks (immigrants from Africa, brought here during the slave trade).
French part of Saint Martin
The capital of the northern (larger) part of the island speaks French and is an overseas territory of France.
Capital - city Marigot(Marigot).
Time difference from Moscow to Saint Martin minus 8 hours
Mobile Internet 3G with a travel SIM card does not work in Saint Martin, although there is cellular communication: its own network on the Dutch side and the French network on the northern part of the island. Helps out free wifi cafes on the beach and carelessly unprotected Internet in the cities.
How to get to Saint Martin from Europe
Saint Martin how to get there
You can get to the island from Europe by purchasing tickets from Paris with AirFrance or Air Caraibes.
KLM flies from Amsterdam.
Both the French and the Dutch fly into the same airport - it is common in Saint Martin.
It so happened that I posted the news on the forum: I took advantage of this idea and bought two tickets from Paris to Saint-Martin for 621 euros by the company Air Caraibes.
After that, all that remained was to find inexpensive tickets from Moscow to Paris (as you understand, this was not difficult using the service on the forum) and do it - a visa is issued in the same way as a regular French Schengen.
French Overseas Territory Visa
The application form is printed from the website visa center France in Moscow, a photograph is taken on a gray background, copies of tickets to Saint-Martin, a hotel reservation in Saint-Martin, a certificate from work indicating the salary and a stamp or a bank statement for the couple are attached last months so that the embassy understands that you are not a poor person.
The visa is processed within 3 working days.
For those who have a Schengen multi-visa -
So: we have tickets, we have a visa, we have a hotel reservation for the first 2 days. Let's fly!
Air Caraibes review
Beaches in Saint Martin
I wrote about beaches in a separate article called.