AIRPORT--Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Stuart Johnson was on hand at Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) Monday at 11:30am to welcome Divi Divi Air’s inaugural flight from Curaçao to St. Maarten.
Johnson, ground handlers for the airline Halley Aviation Services, and PJIA officials witnessed the Airport Fire Department’s water cannon salute to the Boeing 737-800 aircraft and welcomed the captain and crew.
Some 67 passengers disembarked the maiden flight from Curaçao. Divi Divi Air and Corendon are jointly servicing the route. Corendon is Holland’s third biggest tour operator.
Insel Air will now have a code share relationship with Divi Divi Air allowing prospective passengers to purchase Insel Air tickets that will be honoured by Divi Divi Airline out of St. Maarten, according to Insel marketing representative Priscilla Molina-Halley. The code share agreement between Insel Air and Divi Divi Air is for 40 seats on board Divi Divi’s Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
Johnson said on Monday, “The inaugural flight showed that there is a great deal of confidence in our destination. This is the kind of activity that investors have been hoping to see, especially given the hard work being done by the management at Princess Juliana International Airport to get our terminal building reopened to accommodate larger arrivals and departures and get us back to the numbers of visitor arrivals we were experiencing pre-[Hurricane – Ed.] Irma.”
He said it was worth celebrating, as this achievement was an indication that the island is moving forward.
Divi Divi Air has scheduled weekly flights between Curaçao and St. Maarten on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, leaving Curaçao at 10:00am, landing at PJIA at 11:30am, and returning to Curaçao on those days leaving St. Maarten at 12:30pm and arriving at Hato International Airport at 1:50pm. Divi Divi Air will leave Curaçao a little later on Fridays, departing at 4:10pm and landing in St. Maarten at 5:40pm. It departs St. Maarten on Fridays at 6:30pm and arrives in Curaçao at 8:00pm.
The aircraft, which Divi Divi Air has on wet lease, has a capacity of 189 passengers. Germaine Durand of Divi Divi Air said there is a special promotional fare of US $120 round trip to Curaçao from St. Maarten with the lowest “regular rate” for the same trip being $188.
The airline is presently in discussions to also fly from Curaçao to Bonaire and will start its full-service flight from Curaçao to Brazil with “very attractive rates” and “special on-board entertainment” on Saturday, December 15.
Captain Peter Nanninga, who flew the inaugural flight, said he had not flown to St. Maarten since 1984 and even though the island had sustained severe damage in 2017 “the view coming in was magnificent.” He said, “It is a beautiful island. I see why the people love coming here.”
Travellers can log on to
www.dividiviair.com for more travel details.
The weekly flights scheduled to Guarulhos International Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil, depart Curaçao at 10:50am on Saturdays and land in Brazil six hours later around 7:20pm. The aircraft will overnight in Brazil weekly and return to Curaçao on Sunday, leaving Brazil at 9:35am and landing at Hato International at 2:00pm. On that same day it will then depart Curaçao to St. Maarten at 4:10pm and land in St. Maarten at 5:40pm, then depart St. Maarten at 6:30pm landing in Curaçao at 8:00pm.
