Sept / Oct 2016 | Business View Caribbean

76 September 2016 - Business View Caribbean Business View Caribbean - September 2016 77 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 growth. In Phase 1, completed in 2011, the runway was completely renovated. Nicolaas says that Phase 2a is finished, and Phase 2b is imminent. “We just completed construction of a new $5 million, state-of- the-art, new Air Traffic Control Tower,” he reports. “And now we can proceed to construct a new apron that can accommodate five wide-body aircrafts like an Airbus 330, or a 747.” Phase 3, will be the construction of a new passenger terminal. Nicolaas says that, today, the Airport is looking at “dif- ferent initiatives,” that will help increase traffic – both passenger and cargo – while also providing more ser- vices for its customers. “We see a strong growth in corporate operations,” he explains. “And that’s one of the reasons that, very soon, we will be issuing a Re- quest for Proposal (RFP), for international Fixed Base Operators (FBOs), to come and provide their services AT A GLANCE WHO: The Bonaire International Airport WHAT: Serving the island of Bonaire WHERE: Kralendijk, Bonaire, N.V. WEBSITE : www.bonaireinternationalairport.com