The World Bank has approved a US$72m project to reconstruct the airport terminal at Princess Juliana International in Sint Maarten in the Caribbean. The project will restore full service at the airport following damage that occurred during the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season.
The project will finance the reconstruction and purchase of equipment for the airport’s terminal and aims to return the airport to its pre-hurricane passenger handling capacity of 2.5 million passengers per year. It also focuses on enhancing Princess Juliana International’s resilience to future extreme weather events.
The approved project will be financed by the Netherlands government through the World Bank-managed Sint Maarten Reconstruction, Recovery and Resilience Trust Fund (Sint Maarten Trust Fund). Reconstruction will be co-financed by an additional US$50m from the European Investment Bank and US$7m from Princess Juliana International Airport Operating Company – the airport’s operating company (PJIAE).
The project includes support to PJIAE’s operating expenditures should weather-related or other risks materialize during the reconstruction, as well as capacity building activities for the government of Sint Maarten and PJIAE.