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
