Dutch engineering contractor Ballast Nedam International Projects (BNIP) has officially begun reconstruction of the main terminal at Princess Juliana International Airport in St Maarten.
The Airport Terminal Reconstruction Project is jointly funded by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Sint Maarten Trust Fund and was commissioned following the destruction wrought on the terminal by Hurricane Irma in 2017.
“I am proud to announce that we can finally start rebuilding the ‘airport of the future’,” said Brian Mingo, CEO of BNIP. “This is a major milestone for the country, the Princess Juliana International Airport Holding (PJIAH) board and our staff. I would also like to compliment the project team for this accomplishment. Despite hurdles such as Covid-19, which complicated the works tremendously, they never lost focus and made the impossible, quite possible.”
Construction will be phased over a two-year period, following the mobilization of the contractor in August 2021. The project is an essential renovation development, which will further modernize the 15-year-old terminal building.
The reconstruction project is on schedule to start by the end of September 2021 and be completed by Q2 of 2023. However, sections of the terminal building will begin to come online as early as December 2022.
