St. Maarten benefits from increased traffic to St. Barths

PHILIPSBURG — The important role of Princess Juliana International Airport as a hub, and that of local airline Winair as the main carrier for flights to and from St. Barths were confirmed by data released by Fabrice Danet, the director of the Airport of Saint Barthélemy Remy de Haenen.

In December of last year, 21,140 passengers arrived in St. Barths on commercial flights, up 31.5 percent compared to 2020. The total of arriving passengers for 2021 is 147,292, an increase of 23.7 percent.

The overwhelming majority of these passengers (13,540) arrived from Princess Juliana International Airport, 63.8 percent more than in 2020. The airport of San Juan in Puerto Rico is listed as a distant second, with 3,338 passengers – still an increase of 29.8 percent compared to 2020.

Winair benefited from the uptick in travel to St. Barths. It carried 9,535 passengers to this destination, representing roughly 45 percent of all passengers. Compared to 2020, passenger volume increased with 76.3 percent for Winair. The closest competitor to this destination was St. Barths Commuter; it transported 3,954 passengers, an increase of 35.1 percent compared to 2020.

The number of flight movements (take offs and landings) was 4,679 in December, an increase of 21.1 percent compared to the previous year. The total of movements for 2021 was 33,370, an increase of 23.7 percent.

The data further show that most passengers (45 percent) arrived between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., while 30 percent arrived between 6 and 11 a.m. and the remaining 25 percent between 3 and 7 p.m.

Click here to see a breakdown of the passenger traffic to St. Barths in December 2021

Related article: Airlift to St. Barth’s in top-25 of world’s busiest routes

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