Mingo says restriction on 737 aircraft to St. Maarten has little impact

AIRPORT — “The restriction of the Boeing 737 Max 8 and Max 9 to St. Maarten has little or no immediate effect to the airlift to the island,” said Chief Executive officer of the Princess Juliana International Airport Brian Mingo. The restriction came after an Ethiopian airline crashed shortly after takeoff in Addis Ababa killing all 157 persons aboard the jet aircraft.

Minister of Tourism Stuart Johnson has issued a Ministerial Decree after consultations with the Department of Civil Aviation and Maritime Affairs to restrict the Boeing 737 Max 8 and 9 from St. Maarten Airspace on Wednesday. He pointed out that this was not an easy decision for the Government since we had seen a notably increase of flights to the island.

Mingo stated that one of the reasons that the restriction of the aircraft did not had an adverse effect to the island was because it was only a few airlines that had used that type of equipment to the island. American Airlines which uses that equipment for their international flights had to apparently switch aircraft last week Thursday after they learnt that St. Maarten had placed the restriction on the Boeing 737 Max 8 and 9 aircrafts.

Meanwhile, the American President Donald Trump has also restricted the aircraft to be used in the United States. The aircraft has also been restricted to fly to most countries in Europe after the crash of the Ethiopian Airlines last week.