St. Maarten: Princess Juliana Airport to unveil new arrival hall ahead of terminal reopening

St Maarten: The Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) in St Maarten is all set to achieve a major milestone in its redevelopment.

According to the information, Ballast Nedam International Projects will be officially handing over the newly completed arrival hall and baggage reclaim area today (October 7, 2024), marking a significant progress towards the opening of the state-of-the-art terminal building at the airport.

Following the handover ceremony, the airport staff will be making final preparations for the opening of the hall, including thorough cleaning and setting up key services such as Customs, Immigration and baggage handling.

This new arrival hall will be welcoming its first passengers on October 15 that will replace the temporary arrival facility tent that has been in use during construction.

PJIA will be hosting a grand reopening ceremony for the terminal building on November in recognition of the successful completion of this phase with further details to be announced in the coming weeks. 

The arrival hall will also be featuring enhanced baggage handling systems designed for faster and more efficient luggage retrieval. Moreover, streamlines immigration and customs processes will help reduce waiting times while the modern passenger facilities strives to provide a more comfortable and seamless arrival experience for all travellers. 

Meanwhile, the PJIA operating company PJIAE’s Commercial Director Michiel Parent said that in less than a month, the passengers will enjoy the new arrival hall. 

He also expressed his pride on the team’s achievements and said that they all are looking forward for the grand opening in November. 

Notably, the airport operations have remained unaffected despite the ongoing redevelopment to ensure smooth travel for passengers. This year, the airport is anticipated to handle 1.5 million passengers and 54000 aircraft movements.

With the new development, passengers will have more chances to enjoy the airport during their stop flights as there will a lot more to experience at the upcoming building.