The Bonaire International Airport

2 Business View Caribbean The Bonaire International Airport Full service and growing According to Michael Nicolaas, CEO of the Bonaire In- ternational Airport, aviation on the small Dutch island of the Netherlands Antilles got its start 80 years ago, with the initial landing of a KLM flight at Bonaire’s first airport, a small airstrip situated at Tra’i Montaña near Subi Blanku. In 1943, at the insistence of the Ameri- can army, which was transshipping its soldiers to the war front via Bonaire, construction began on a new airport, at a new location: the Flamingo Airport, near Kralendijk, which began service in 1945. Over the years, Bonaire continued to serve as a major hub for KLM, connecting all its European flights going to South America. Also over the years, the facilities at the Flamingo Airport have had to be continually up- graded and expanded in order to meet the demands of increasing air traffic as well as the ever-larger aircraft flying onto and off of the island. The original passenger terminal was replaced in 1976, and the runway was widened and lengthened a number of times. Today, it has a length of 2,880 meters – long enough to serve the large, modern jetliners that carry international passengers and cargo. In 2008, the Airport began implementing its 15-year master plan, ushering in a new era of expansion and