Flamingo International Airport - Plans

Plans

It is planned to expand the current airport building as more airlines and tourists come to Bonaire. It is also planned to expand the current departure and arrival hall of the airport to meet the standards of the amount of tourists that will be visiting the airport in the coming years and to repair the airport's runway after certain speculations that the runway had a crack in it. The Dutch Transport Minister, Camiel Eurlings, calculates that it will cost about €20 million (57 million guilders) to repair Bonaire's worn-out Flamingo International Airport runway. Since Bonaire is now the responsibility of the Netherlands, including ownership of the airport, it must comply with European standards, which are much stricter than the ICAO standards. Recently, the worldwide civil aviation authority conducted an audit on all of the airports within the Dutch Kingdom (including the rest of the Caribian parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands) and said that they are just within standards. "Regarding the condition of the airport of Bonaire, there is no need to panic, there is no acute danger, only overdue maintenance. The runway needs heavy renovations and the people of Bonaire need a vital airport," concluded Eurlings.

The management of the airport is drawing up a master plan to comply with international requirements. There are three important projects planned which include:

1. Maintenance of the runway, as mentioned above (Already completed as of 2012)
2. Moving the fire station to the middle of the runway
3. Purchasing two push-back cars for the heavy jets (One already purchased and in-use with KLM flights)

Management is working very hard to make sure that Bonaire International Airport is as safe as possible and this way could welcome the aircraft that come to Bonaire and contribute to the growth of the tourism on the island.