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Princess Juliana airport officially reopened in November 2024, seven years after Irma
Princess Juliana International Airport was officially reopened on 14 November 2024 after its Irma-damaged terminal was rebuilt, and in December 2024 Caribbean Journal named it Caribbean Airport of the Year.
By SXM Daily ยท
Reported 14 November 2024.
Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) was officially reopened on 14 November 2024, seven years after Hurricanes Irma and Maria wrecked its terminal in September 2017. The reopening ceremony marked the end of the main reconstruction works, according to a release from the Sint Maarten Reconstruction, Recovery and Resilience Trust Fund, which is managed by the World Bank.
Photo: Lawrence Lansing / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0, illustrative
What was rebuilt
The departure side reopened first. According to Caribbean Journal, the new arrivals hall had been open for only a few weeks by 13 November 2024, replacing a temporary arrivals area that had been in use in different forms since Irma. The outlet listed improved baggage handling, a new immigration and customs process linked to the island's electronic arrival forms, and new digital kiosks.
The Trust Fund release said the work restored the airport's operating capacity to pre-hurricane levels. It listed new passenger boarding bridges, self-service bag drop, baggage handling and security screening equipment, and digital signage.
On the immigration side, biometrics supplier Vision-Box said in a release published by Amadeus that the arrivals hall had 18 self-service passport kiosks and 5 automated gates, used together with the online entry form at entry.sx.
How it was paid for
According to the Trust Fund, the terminal reconstruction was financed with US$92 million from the Trust Fund, which is funded by a grant from the Government of the Netherlands, plus a US$50 million loan from the European Investment Bank and the airport operating company's own funds. A World Bank project report archived in February 2025 confirmed that the public inauguration took place on 14 November 2024 and that the terminal building works were substantially complete.
Airport of the Year
A month later, in its Caribbean Travel Awards 2025 published on 18 December 2024, Caribbean Journal named PJIA the Caribbean Airport of the Year. The outlet referred back to the award in February 2025, when the arrival and departure terminals were both complete. Separately, StMaartenNews.com named the airport its Entity of the Year 2024 on 23 December 2024, citing the reconstruction.
For the airport today, including passenger figures, see our guide to Princess Juliana International Airport. For the storm that caused the damage, see Hurricane Irma and St. Martin.
Sources
- https://www.sintmaartenrecovery.org/news/sint-maartens-princess-juliana-international-airport-recommissioned
- https://www.caribjournal.com/2024/11/13/st-maarten-airport-arrivals-terminal-new-open/
- https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099021025183542196/pdf/P167974-aef9e433-94ae-4f33-b215-fc156e0e8fbd.pdf
- https://amadeus.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/vision-box-announces-successful-deployment-its-seamless-border-programme-arrivals
- https://www.caribjournal.com/2024/12/18/the-caribbean-travel-awards-2025/
- https://www.caribjournal.com/2025/02/23/caribbean-island-st-maarten-airport-flocking/
- https://stmaartennews.com/airport/sxm-airport-named-stmaartennews-coms-entity-of-the-year-2024/