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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: