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Princess Juliana Airport was closed and evacuated early this evening due to a bomb threat
We are, at this point, not sure how accurate our information is. All access roads to the airport were closed.
Source : Telegraaf Newspaper. The Netherlands
Update 02/20 :
AIRPORT–A false security threat shut down Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA), crippled Cole Bay/Simpson Bay traffic and grounded flights out of St. Maarten on Friday evening.
Airport security evacuated hundreds of travellers, their families, PJIA staff and vendors from the terminal after an anonymous caller is said to have reported a bomb in the building at 5:47pm. Security corralled them in the parking lot opposite the terminal.
Officials lifted the emergency status at 11:45pm after thorough checks in and around the PJIA terminal found nothing “that would pose a security threat,” Government Information Services (GIS) reported.
PJIA reopens today, Saturday, at 7:00am.
Some 25 flights were scheduled to enter and leave PJIA between 6:00pm and midnight, according to flight-monitoring Website www.sxmarrivaltimes.com .
Travellers and residents felt inconvenienced by authorities, who turned away drivers in front of a Simpson Bay restaurant and at the Maho roundabout, and banned walking in front of the terminal building.
Traffic froze on either side of the airport as police ordered drivers to turn around for their own safety.
A young mother worried about her infant daughter’s return on a flight from Curaçao that had been cancelled while authorities searched the building for danger.
Twelve firemen swept the terminal.
They combed every section from the basement to the parking lot and tarmac in response to the threat. It took nearly six hours of searching before they gave the green light to airport officials to reopen the terminal.
KLM, Dutch Antillean Express (DAE) and US Airways flights were grounded. Crews ordered passengers off the planes minutes after they boarded. “We were just finished boarding US Airways and we were on KLM when we got the call,” a worker said.
Initial reports reaching The Daily Herald said a person had threatened a plane with a bomb. However, judging by authorities’ response – more than a dozen police, fire and EMS cars rushing to the airport and almost-immediate evacuation – the threat was more severe, said a source who is familiar with airport security.
“If it was on an airplane, then the tower would’ve called it,” the person said. After air traffic controllers report a threat on a plane, procedure for responding to it is three-tiered: isolate the suspect aircraft, detain the person/persons making the threat, and inspect the plane for possible dangers: explosives, gases, and so on.
GIS said the caller had warned of a “security threat” to the airport, but didn’t say whether “it was in the terminal building or on an aircraft.”
“The result of the operation that started at 5:47pm and ended at 11:30pm is that nothing was found that would pose a security threat,” GIS said. Officials refused to say what exactly the caller had said that had warranted a complete shutdown of the airport.
More than 250 passengers had been shuttled out of Simpson Bay to nearby hotels by 9:30pm, a car-rental agent told this newspaper. He was “about to leave work when this happened.”
Two young women were headed to their shifts at Atlantis Casino in Cupecoy when fire, ambulance and police teams raced to the airport. On separate buses, they both noticed the wail of sirens rushing past them, but didn’t expect it to interrupt their day’s plans. “I was just coming down to work and I was already late,” one woman said.
Unfazed by the scare, the women stood under lampposts between the terminal and Winair’s ticket office applying makeup from handheld kits. They still planned to go to work.
Many guests staying at Sonesta Maho Resort and other resorts and condos were forced to go through French St. Martin because the road was blocked. A model performing at a fashion show at a nightclub couldn’t get to the club.
Customers at Crazy Thyme restaurant, which is opposite PJIA, stayed and ate. Police tried to warn them of danger, but they wouldn’t budge. A French couple eating at the restaurant was curious about the search, but not bothered enough to give up their meal. Diners came and went in the more than three hours this newspaper covered the search.
Others watched from the roadside or sat on docks above Simpson Bay Lagoon.
A woman walked into the airport to meet her sister and two-year-old daughter as security escorted everyone out of the building. “We were coming in and everybody was rushing out,” the woman said.
This newspaper did not know up to press time how flights would be reorganised to accommodate last night’s passengers and persons leaving in the days ahead. At least one airline offered passengers vouchers for new flights.
Acting Lt. Governor Millicent Acuña Lopez-de Weever commended disaster management teams for their response. She was on site along with heads of police, the Prosecutor’s Office and the airport. GIS said only that authorities were trying to find out who had made the call. “Law enforcement agencies will continue to carry out their investigation with respect to the source of the security threat,” GIS said.
Source : The Daily Herald
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, February 11, 2010 – LIAT wishes to advise that it has been forced to suspend flights into and out of Antigua because of airborne ash clouds from the Soufriere Hills Volcano in Montserrat.
LIAT continues to assess the situation and as soon as it is safe for services to operate, normal operations will resume.
Passengers on LIAT services, particularly to and from Antigua, Anguilla, Dominica, St. Kitts, Nevis, St. Maarten, and Guadeloupe are advised to expect a disruption in services.
Commissioner of Tourism and Aviation Frans Richardson reached an agreement with GOL Airlines in Brazil on Friday for a year-round weekly flight to St. Maarten.
The agreement is seen as a major step in St. Maarten’s efforts to establish itself as a year-round tourism destination.
While Richardson and Tourist Bureau head Regina Labega were hoping for a twice-weekly flight, the commissioner said he was still ecstatic about the additional airlift. He also noted that the seasonal charter flight would continue.
The agreement means that St. Maarten will have two flights out of Brazil in the high season and one in the off season. The GOL flight will be via Bogotá, Colombia, to St. Maarten.
The end of March 2010 has been tentatively identified as the start date of the new service using a 737 or 767 aircraft. Should the weekly flight prove successful for GOL and the destination, Richardson will meet with GOL executives again in an effort to add a second weekly flight.
GOL will be seeking assistance from St. Maarten in marketing the flight aggressively to ensure its success. When airlines start servicing an island, Richardson explained, they tend to want to feel secure that the destination will do its share towards the success of the service.
Four major Brazilian wholesalers (travel agent firms and tourism-related companies) are now on board to strengthen promotions and representatives of Sonesta Maho Group have shown their commitment by also being present in Brazil to help secure the flight for St. Maarten. Richardson is expected to call on the private sector to do its part on his return to the island.
His week-long itinerary consisted of the launching of St. Maarten’s new branding strategy in Brazil, which he said had been “very impressive to the Brazilians,” meeting with Brazil’s largest tour operator CVC, and a series of other meetings, including those with GOL.
Source : Daily Herald
St. Maarten as a destination received more positive news on Monday when WestJet announced it would be expanding its seasonal service to St. Maarten to year-round.
WestJet’s inaugural flight touched down at Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) in November 2009 with 116 passengers on board. The airline currently flies non-stop between Toronto and St. Maarten three times a week and will continue at this rate until April 29. Flying time on each leg is about 4½ hours.
With the expansion of the service to year-round, WestJet will service St. Maarten once a week, on Sundays, with additional calls during the high season.
“We are pleased with the number of guests using the South-bound service and the North-bound service. It is a mixture of leisure and business travellers, as well as guests visiting friends and family in Canada and on the island. There is a large Caribbean population in the Greater Toronto area, and we know they appreciate the opportunity to return home from time to time via WestJet,” said WestJet Manager of Public Relations Robert Palmer.
He added that WestJet was happy with the service at PJIA, and “everything is coming together nicely. On a personal note, I was fortunate enough to be on our inaugural flight to St. Maarten in November and without a doubt it is truly one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. It’s definitely on my list of places to return to,” Palmer said.
“This is a strategic expansion of new routes within our network, and an extension of flight offerings to some of our key winter routes that remain popular destinations through the summer season,” said Executive Vice-President of Strategy and Planning Hugh Dunleavy.
“This schedule also demonstrates our strong commitment to take Canadians where they want to go, when they want to go. Now our guests will have the opportunity to visit more of their favourite destinations on a year-round basis.”
WestJet Vacations has become a trusted and preferred travel provider for Canadian vacationers since its launch in 2006. Canada is St. Maarten’s second-largest source market.
Commissioner in charge of Aviation Frans Richardson lauded in November the economic spin-off the new service would have for St. Maarten in all tourism-related sectors. He said preliminary figures indicated that the WestJet service could account for US $5.5 million for the island coffers from November 2009 to April 2010.
He also assured WestJet executives that the airline could count on commitment from his office and the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau in making the business relationship between the airline and the destination a resounding success.
Source : Daily Herald
PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten — A shortage of jet fuel in St. Maarten has resulted in rationing at the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) “seriously affecting the operations of private jets,” according to the island’s newspaper The Daily Herald.
According to the The Daily Herald “no commercial aircraft were affected, a number of private jets had to fly to Antigua to be fueled.”
The shortage was attributed to the annual closing of the Point a Pierre refinery, located in South Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago, to undergo an annual maintenance shutdown from December 28 to January 4 and the high sea swells in the region which have led to tanker delays.
A new delivery this this weekend is expected to bring operations back to normal.
Category: Air travel, Caribbean Travel, Netherlands Antilles
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JetBlue have announced a brilliant new travel pass, although it is for a limited time only (9 September-8 October). The All-You-Can-Jet Pass lets you make unlimited flights anywhere on the JetBlue network for one month for just USD$599.
It is good for travel on more than 600 daily flights to 57 cities on the jetBlue network. Domestic taxes and fees are included for travel within the United States, but you have to pay taxes for flights to Puerto Rico and to international destinations such as the Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico, St Maarten and St Lucia.
You need to be a member of TrueBlue, JetBlue’s frequent flyer program, to use the pass. You earn 35 TrueBlue points when you buy the pass, but the flights you make with the pass aren’t eligible for any points.
This pass is only available for sale until 21 August 2009 (or while stock lasts), it is only valid for flights from 9 September to 8 October 2009, you must book your flights with jetBlue’s call centre at least three days before each flight and you must only book one flight per city per day (in other words just because your flights are free, don’t make multiple bookings you won’t use).
Category: Air travel, Airline Schedule, Caribbean Travel, SXM Airfare, St Maarten News
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Airline Announces New Exclusive Non-Stop Service to San Juan, St. Thomas and West Palm Beach
ST. PAUL, Minn.–Sun Country Airlines announced today the addition of exclusive non-stop service to San Juan, Puerto Rico and St. Thomas, Virgin Islands every Sunday as well as West Palm Beach, Florida on Mondays and Fridays this winter. The Hometown Airline also released details of its winter 2009/2010 flight schedule.
Flights are now available for purchase at suncountry.com, Sun Country reservations (1 800 FLY-N-SUN) and travel agencies. In addition to popular destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean, Sun Country will be offering service to winter hot spots in the U.S.
As part of its expanded winter service, Sun Country will offer customers nonstop flights from Minneapolis/St. Paul to the following destinations: Cabo San Lucas, Cancun, Cozumel, Ft Myers, Harlingen, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Mazatlan, Miami, Montego Bay, Orlando, Puerto Vallarta, Punta Cana, and St. Maarten. The flights, which will begin between fall of 2009 and spring of 2010, will be operated with a combination of fuel-efficient Boeing 737 aircraft.
About Sun Country Airlines
MN Airlines, LLC, d.b.a. Sun Country Airlines is based in St. Paul, Minnesota. Sun Country, which has earned a reputation for offering world class service at an affordable price, was recently named in the “Top Ten Domestic Airlines” by Travel+Leisure for the fourth year in a row and Condé Nast Traveler for the third year in a row. The airline flies to popular destinations in the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean. For a complete list of destinations and more information, please visit www.suncountry.com.
Fares starting from $29 to $149 (a) each way for travel between September 8 and December 16; book online at jetblue.com by August 5
New York John F. Kennedy (JFK) to/from:
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St. Maarten $149 (a)
Category: Air travel, Airline Schedule, Caribbean Travel, Netherlands Antilles, St Maarten News
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