SXM airport’s temporary arrival and departure tents nearly finished

Princess Juliana In­ternational Airport SXM is erect­ing two big, air-conditioned tents intended to better accommodate passengers and other users of the facility temporarily, until the ter­minal building can be restored to its pre-Hurricane Irma state.

The tents will enhance customer comfort and upgrade the current operations of both the arrival and departure areas, freeing up the general aviation FBO building that is now being used for arriv­ing passengers. The tents will also be customised to include offices and bathroom facilities. Work­ers started erecting the tents last week and will finish before the end of the month.

In an invited comment Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Ravi Daryanani said interior demoli­tion and waterproofing of the roof of the airport’s main building will commence within 10 days.

When asked about the status of the insurance claim for the airport, Daryanani said, “The sta­tus is ongoing pending fi­nal documentation needed for the insurance claim.” The airport is MN covered by NAGICO Insurances. In a previous press release Chief Operations Officer (COO) Michel Hyman said, “We are aware of the fact that passengers and other users of the airport facilities would like to re­turn as quickly as possible to experience the award-winning service we offered before Hurricane Irma struck. We appreciate their patience and we will soon set up the tents to further make passenger flow easier and more comfortable. “The FBO building will re­vert to its normal use once the tent is up. We are work­ing tirelessly to ensure that we rehabilitate and restore the terminal building to the envious position it held be­fore the storms. This will take time. However. The Airport operating company is commit­ted to making sure that ev­eryone is kept informed on the progress of our rebuild­ing effort.”

The Daily Herald