HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Queen Beatrix International Airport (; ) Is an
international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...
located in the
Dutch Caribbean The Dutch Caribbean (historically known as the Dutch West Indies) are the New World territories, colonies, and countries (former and current) of the Dutch Empire and the Kingdom of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean Sea, mainly the norther ...
island of
Aruba Aruba, officially the Country of Aruba, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in the southern Caribbean Sea north of the Venezuelan peninsula of Paraguaná Peninsula, Paraguaná and northwest of Curaçao. In 19 ...
. It has flight services to the United States, Canada, several countries in the Caribbean, the northern coastal countries of South America, as well as some parts of Europe, notably the Netherlands. It is named after
Beatrix of the Netherlands Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as List of monarchs of the Netherlands, Queen of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix was born ...
, who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 to 2013.


Overview

The airport offers United States border preclearance facilities. The airport originally served as main hub for Air Aruba until its bankruptcy in 2000, Before Aruba's separation from the
Netherlands Antilles The Netherlands Antilles (, ; ), also known as the Dutch Antilles, was a constituent Caribbean country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands consisting of the islands of Saba (island), Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten in the Lesser Antilles, ...
in 1986 it was also one of three hubs for
ALM Antillean Airlines ALM Antillean Airlines (), and later Air ALM, was the main airline of the Netherlands Antilles between its foundation in 1964 and its shut-down in 2001, operating out of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao. It was based at Hato International Airport. H ...
as well as home base for
Tiara Air Tiara Air N.V., operating as Tiara Air Aruba, was an airline headquartered in Oranjestad, Aruba in the Dutch Caribbean. The airline, which began operations in 2006, operated scheduled flights to Bonaire, Colombia, Curacao, the United States and ...
until 2016. A terminal for private aircraft opened in 2007. Since 2013 the airport is home to
Aruba Airlines Aruba Airlines (legally ') is the flag carrier and the sole airline of Aruba. The airline was founded in 2006, providing scheduled and charter air transport for passengers to 13 destinations. Aruba Airlines's corporate headquarters is in Oranjes ...
. The airline has three
Airbus A320 family The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first member of the fami ...
aircraft and two
Bombardier CRJ200 The Bombardier CRJ100 and CRJ200 (previously Canadair CRJ100 and CRJ200) are regional jets designed and manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace between 1991 and 2006, the first of the Bombardier CRJ family. The ''Canadair Regional Jet'' (CRJ) pr ...
. The main focus of Aruba Airlines is connecting the region through its hub.


History

In 1934, Manuel Viana launched a weekly mail and passenger service between Aruba and
Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...
, with A.J. Viccellio piloting Loening C-2H Air Yacht PJ-ZAA from a mud-flat runway. Commercial services were taken over by
KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, or simply KLM (an abbreviation for their official name Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. , ),
from 24 December 1934. Later they were transferred to a graded runway known as the KLM field. KLM's Snip, the PJ-AIS a Fokker tri-motor, ushered in the scheduled flying age in Aruba on 19 January 1935. Together with the KLM's “Oriol”, the PJ-AIO, also a three-engine Fokker, they flew until 1946, after which they were scrapped. On its bi-weekly Aruba-Curaçao operations, KLM transported 2,695 passengers on 471 flights. During World War II, the airport was used by the
United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
Sixth Air Force Sixth is the ordinal form of the number six. * The Sixth Amendment, to the U.S. Constitution * A keg of beer, equal to 5 U.S. gallons or barrel * The fraction Music * Sixth interval (music)s: ** major sixth, a musical interval ** minor sixth ...
defending Caribbean shipping and the
Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...
against German submarines. The airfield was renamed Dakota Field; the terminal facilities became Dakota Airport. Flying units assigned to the airfield were: *
59th Bombardment Squadron The 59th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was first activated in Panama in 1941 during the expansion of the United States Army Air Corps before World War II. Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor the squadron ...
(
9th Bombardment Group 009 may refer to: * OO9, gauge model railways * O09, FAA identifier for Round Valley Airport * 0O9, FAA identifier for Ward Field, see List of airports in California * British secret agent 009, see 00 Agent * BA 009, see British Airways Flight 9 ...
) 14 January-24 September 1942 (A-20 Havoc) *
12th Bombardment Squadron 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
(
25th Bombardment Group Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth Avenue * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a conta ...
) 10 October 1942 – 23 November 1943 (B-18 Bolo) *
22d Fighter Squadron The 22nd Fighter Squadron, sometimes written as 22d Fighter Squadron, (22 FS) is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 52nd Operations Group and stationed at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. Originally constitu ...
( 36th Fighter Group) 2 September 1942 – April 1943 (P-40 Warhawk) *
32d Fighter Squadron The ROMP is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) microprocessor designed by IBM in the late 1970s. It is also known as the Research OPD Miniprocessor (after the two IBM divisions that collaborated on its inception, IBM Research and the Offic ...
(
Antilles Air Command The Antilles Air Command is a disbanded United States Army Air Forces unit. Its last assignment was with Sixth Air Force, based at Borinquen Field, Puerto Rico, where it was inactivated on 25 August 1946. Engaged in antisubmarine operations ...
) 9 March 1943 – March 1944 (P-40 Warhawk) On 22 October 1955, the airport was named after Princess
Beatrix of the Netherlands Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as List of monarchs of the Netherlands, Queen of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix was born ...
during a royal visit. It was renamed in 1980 after her accession to the throne. On 3 March 2021,
American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...
celebrated its 50 years flying to and from Aruba. Aruba was late to implementing baggage handling advanced enough to relieve U.S.-bound passengers of the traditional legal requirement of physically walking their baggage through U.S. customs inspection. For several decades, this forced U.S.-bound passengers to undergo a time-consuming preclearance procedure: they had to check in baggage, pass through Aruba primary airport security screening followed by Aruba exit customs, then reclaim checked baggage, walk it through immigration and customs inspections at the Customs and Border Protection port of entry, recheck their baggage, pass through a secondary security screening in accordance with U.S. standards, and then proceed to their departure gates. As part of Phase 1A of Gateway 2030, a massive airport expansion project, the airport built a new U.S. Check-In Terminal with sufficiently advanced baggage handling equipment, thereby relieving U.S.-bound passengers of the burden of reclaiming baggage and undergoing another screening. The first flights began from the new terminal on April 8, 2025.


Airlines and destinations


Passenger

;Notes *
KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, or simply KLM (an abbreviation for their official name Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. , ),
's flights operate to and from Bonaire on selected days.
* TUI Airlines Netherlands' flights operate between Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao on selected days. However, the airline does not have fifth freedom rights to transport passengers solely between Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. *
Winair Winair (short for Windward Islands Airways International NV) is a government-owned Dutch regional airline based in Sint Maarten. Founded in 1961 by Georges Greaux and Hippolyte Ledee, It has a fleet of eight aircraft serving destinations mostl ...
's flights operate between Aruba and Sint Maarten via Curaçao on selected days.


Cargo


Statistics


Accidents and incidents

*On 13 January 2010, an
Arkefly TUI fly Netherlands, legally incorporated as ''TUI Airlines Netherlands'' (formerly branded as ''Arkefly'' and ''Arke''), is a Dutch charter airline headquartered in Schiphol-Rijk on the grounds of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Haarlemmermeer, ...
Boeing 767-300 (registration PH-AHQ), operating Flight 361 from
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport (, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands, and is one of the major hubs for the SkyTeam airline alliance. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipal ...
to Queen Beatrix International Airport, declared an emergency after a man claimed to have a bomb on board. A struggle with the flight crew ensued, and the aircraft made an emergency landing at
Shannon Airport Shannon Airport () is an international airport located in County Clare in Ireland. It is adjacent to the Shannon Estuary and lies halfway between Ennis and Limerick. With almost 2 million passengers in 2023, the airport is the third busiest ...
, Ireland. Gardaí stormed the plane and arrested the man; he was taken to Shannon Garda police station. A passenger who had recently had surgery collapsed in the terminal while waiting for the continuation of the flight, and had to be taken to a local hospital. The replacement aircraft, PH-AHY, also a Boeing 767-300, continued the flight to Aruba.


See also

*
Trams in Oranjestad The Oranjestad Streetcar () and (Papiamento: ''Tranvia Oranjestad)'' is a single-track tram line in Oranjestad, the capital city of Aruba. It is owned and operated by Arubus, the national public transportation company.Morrison, Alle"The Streetca ...


References


Citations


Bibliography

* *


External links


Official Website
* * {{Authority control Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces Airports in Aruba Airports with United States border preclearance Airports established in 1934 Oranjestad, Aruba 1934 establishments in Aruba 20th-century architecture in the Netherlands Beatrix of the Netherlands