A reflection on improving coordination between Princess Juliana and Rémy-de-Haenen

Initial reports for the 2025/2026 tourist season already indicate a further increase in visitor numbers to Saint Barthélemy. The majority of visitors arrive via Princess Juliana International Airport in Sint Maarten. Connections between Juliana and Saint Barth airport account for 60% of overall traffic, confirms Rémy-de-Haenen's management. For example, in January, of the 26,341 passengers who landed in Saint Barth, 16,123 were from Sint Maarten. Consequently, operational coordination between the two airport infrastructures must be as rational and efficient as possible. It goes without saying that such activity is not without its difficulties. This is particularly true during periods of high traffic, which lead to congestion that industry professionals describe as "recurring." In order to conduct an in-depth review of the "persistent issues" and find solutions, the management of Saint Barthélemy Airport organized a meeting with its counterparts at Princess Juliana Airport on Friday, February 27.

Congestion, delays, aggravating factors
The meeting was held at the Territorial Collectivity hotel in Pointe. A delegation from Sint Maarten Airport, led by its director Michael Cleaver, was in attendance. Also present were the president of the Collectivité, Xavier Ledee, the president of the Tourism Committee, Alexandra Questel, the head of the control tower, Rémy-de-Haenen, Yannick Greaux, and the airport director, Fabrice Danet. Discussions focused on several crucial points and led to a number of conclusions.
Firstly, the significant growth in air traffic at both airports is leading to regular saturation of ground facilities and airspace. "This has resulted in an increase in safety incidents," adds Fabrice Danet. In addition, it has been observed that the end of the day at Juliana has become "critical" for connections to Saint Barth. "This congestion is exacerbated by the use of runway 28, which is used at peak times for takeoffs facing the sea in the direction of Maho Beach," points out the director of Saint Barth airport, who explains that this practice, "adopted over the years to maximize the carrying capacity of aircraft departing from Sint Maarten," causes significant delays for connecting flights. These flights are temporarily grounded at both airports, "which reduces the operational margin before the sunset curfew." In addition, five "aggravating factors" have been identified.
These are: high daily traffic of private jets (more than a hundred per day), delays and irregularities of certain airlines, limited availability of parking spaces on arrival, unpredictable weather conditions and, finally, difficulties in coordinating with air traffic controllers during busy periods. This is due to the time required to synchronize exchanges with all neighboring air traffic control centers, particularly those in San Juan and Miami, in order to process clearances for medium- and long-haul flights departing from Juliana. These five "aggravating factors" result in chain delays and an increase in flight cancellations. According to airport management, 187 flights have been canceled since November, including 144 for Winair alone.

Solutions
An analysis of these findings highlights the capacity limitations of both airports in the face of growing traffic. Operational activity that "causes significant inconvenience to passengers, who are forced to take the ferry or spend the night in Saint Martin before they can reach Saint Barthélemy," according to the meeting minutes. In addition, it was noted that "airline flight schedules are no longer adapted to the capacity constraints of airport infrastructure."
Based on these findings, recommendations were made to quickly improve the situation. These included the implementation of proactive flight regulation, in particular to align demand with airport capacity. In terms of schedules, stopover times, flight paths, traffic regulation, and the positioning of private jets at neighboring airports (Anguilla, Saint Kitts, Antigua), etc. There is also talk of better anticipating runway congestion, adapting air traffic control working methods, automating certain coordination tasks (mainly departure clearance management), strengthening coordination and communication, and creating a specific reception area for passengers in transit to Saint Barthélemy.
At the meeting on February 27, representatives from the management teams of both airports emphasized the urgency of implementing these improvement measures. Otherwise, "flight regularity and safety will remain fragile."