by Brian Major
Last updated: 5:46 PM ET, Mon October 9, 2017
St. Maarten's Princess Juliana International Airport-a major hub for flights across the Caribbean-will re-open this week.
A top port of call and homeport on Caribbean itineraries, St. Maarten's cruise port will re-open on November 11 said Rolando Brison, St Maarten's director of tourism.
The dual-nation island was among the Caribbean islands most heavily damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Located on the Dutch side, St. Maarten's airport had been operating on a very limited basis said Brinson, while the cruise port, also on the Dutch side, has not hosted calls since the storms hit.
Speaking at the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO)'s State of the Industry conference in Grenada via Skype, Brinson said Princess Juliana International Airport will resume most operations on October 10.
"We will be re-opening the airport for commercial services once again," said Brinson. "We had been operating on a very limited capacity before this. As of tomorrow, we will have daytime operations; we are not quite ready for night operations."
Flights from American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and other carriers will arrive Tuesday. Brinson also said that, based on recent discussions, he expects Jet Blue to resume St. Maarten flights in early November. KLM and Air France will return at the end of October. Several of the carriers will operate reduced scheduled compared with their pre-storm itineraries.
Located on the Dutch side of the dual-nation island, Brinson said Princess Juliana Airport's reopening is not only important for St. Maarten, but for the wider Caribbean:
"In the hub role we play in the region, Saba, Statia, French St. Martin and Anguilla are some of the destinations that depend on the connectivity at Princess Juliana International Airport. It's important to their tourism as well. So we felt a responsibility to get the airport back up and running as soon as possible."
St Maarten's cruise port will reopen on November 11, with the port hosting a Carnival Cruise Lines ship.
"We expect to have at least one or two cruise ships returning to the destination every day [following the re-opening], so eventually we can get back to being one of the top cruise destinations in the Caribbean," Brinson said. "We are also meeting here with Royal Caribbean representatives [in Grenada], and they are looking forward to resuming cruise operations in November.
Brinson said the island's hotels and resorts are slowly re-building.
"The struggle is with our larger properties," he added. "Sonesta is looking to reopen toward the end of the year while the Westin St. Maarten anticipates re-opening early next year.
"Our people are resilient and strong and the spirits are high. Clean-ups are happening very quickly. Considering how hard we were hit, I think we have bounced back very well. We are moving forward, we're not resting on anything at all."
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