Queen Beatrix International Airport#History

{{Infobox airport

| name = Queen Beatrix
International Airport

| nativename = {{small|Internationale luchthaven
Koningin Beatrix}}
{{small|Aeropuerto Internacional
Reina Beatrix}}

| image =

| image2 = File:Roman Tokman Aruba Airport.jpg

| image-width = 250

| IATA = AUA

| ICAO = TNCA

| type = Public

| owner = Aruba Airport Authority N.V.

| location = Oranjestad, Aruba

| hub = Aruba Airlines

| focus_city = Aerosucre

| elevation-f = 60

| coordinates = {{Coord|12|30|05|N|70|00|55|W|region:AW|display=inline,title}}

| website = [http://www.airportaruba.com/ airportaruba.com]

| pushpin_map = Aruba

| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Aruba

| pushpin_label = AUA

| pushpin_label_position = left

| r1-number = 11/29

| r1-length-m = 2,808

| r1-surface = Asphalt

| metric-rwy = Y

| footnotes = Source: Aruba Airporthttps://www.airportaruba.com/specifications

}}

Queen Beatrix International Airport {{Airport codes|AUA|TNCA}} ({{langx|nl|Internationale luchthaven Koningin Beatrix}}; {{langx|pap|Aeropuerto Internacional Reina Beatrix}}) Is an international airport located in the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba. It has flight services to the United States, Canada, several countries in the Caribbean, the northern coastal countries of South America, as well as some parts of Europe, notably the Netherlands. It is named after Beatrix of the Netherlands, who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 to 2013.

Overview

The airport offers United States border preclearance facilities.{{Cite web |last=Aruba AIrport |title=US CBP Preclearance |url=https://www.airportaruba.com/press-releases/us-cbp-preclearance |url-status=live |website=airportaruba}}

The airport originally served as main hub for Air Aruba until its bankruptcy in 2000, Before Aruba's separation from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986 it was also one of three hubs for ALM Antillean Airlines as well as home base for Tiara Air until 2016.

A terminal for private aircraft opened in 2007.

Since 2013 the airport is home to Aruba Airlines. The airline has three Airbus A320 family aircraft and two Bombardier CRJ200. The main focus of Aruba Airlines is connecting the region through its hub.

History

File:197306 aruba airport.jpg

In 1934, Manuel Viana launched a weekly mail and passenger service between Aruba and Curaçao, with A.J. Viccellio piloting Loening C-2H Air Yacht PJ-ZAA from a mud-flat runway. Commercial services were taken over by KLM from 24 December 1934. Later{{when|date=September 2017}} they were transferred to a graded runway known as the KLM field.{{cite web|url=https://www.airportaruba.com/airport-history|title=Airport History|access-date=16 September 2017}} KLM's Snip, the PJ-AIS a Fokker tri-motor, ushered in the scheduled flying age in Aruba on 19 January 1935. Together with the KLM's “Oriol”, the PJ-AIO, also a three-engine Fokker, they flew until 1946, after which they were scrapped.

On its bi-weekly Aruba-Curaçao operations, KLM transported 2,695 passengers on 471 flights.

During World War II, the airport was used by the United States Army Air Forces Sixth Air Force defending Caribbean shipping and the Panama Canal against German submarines. The airfield was renamed Dakota Field; the terminal facilities became Dakota Airport. Flying units assigned to the airfield were:

59th Bombardment Squadron (9th Bombardment Group) 14 January-24 September 1942 (A-20 Havoc)
12th Bombardment Squadron (25th Bombardment Group) 10 October 1942 – 23 November 1943 (B-18 Bolo)
22d Fighter Squadron (36th Fighter Group) 2 September 1942 – April 1943 (P-40 Warhawk)
32d Fighter Squadron (Antilles Air Command) 9 March 1943 – March 1944 (P-40 Warhawk)

On 22 October 1955, the airport was named after Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands during a royal visit. It was renamed in 1980 after her accession to the throne.

On 3 March 2021, American Airlines celebrated its 50 years flying to and from Aruba.{{cite web|url=https://www.airportaruba.com/press-releases/american-airlines-celebrates-50-years-of-service-to-aruba-130|title=Airport History|access-date=3 March 2021}}

Aruba was late to implementing baggage handling advanced enough to relieve U.S.-bound passengers of the traditional legal requirement of physically walking their baggage through U.S. customs inspection. For several decades, this forced U.S.-bound passengers to undergo a time-consuming preclearance procedure: they had to check in baggage, pass through Aruba primary airport security screening followed by Aruba exit customs, then reclaim checked baggage, walk it through immigration and customs inspections at the Customs and Border Protection port of entry, recheck their baggage, pass through a secondary security screening in accordance with U.S. standards, and then proceed to their departure gates.

As part of Phase 1A of Gateway 2030, a massive airport expansion project, the airport built a new U.S. Check-In Terminal with sufficiently advanced baggage handling equipment, thereby relieving U.S.-bound passengers of the burden of reclaiming baggage and undergoing another screening. The first flights began from the new terminal on April 8, 2025.{{cite news |title=Aruba Airport Continues Progress in Gateway 2030 Project with Soft Opening of U.S. Check-In Terminal |url=https://www.routesonline.com/airports/2361/aruba-airport-authority-nv/news/299664494/aruba-airport-continues-progress-in-gateway-2030-project-with-soft-opening-of-us-check-in-terminal/ |work=Routes Online |date=April 29, 2025}}

Airlines and destinations

File:AUA control tower.JPG

File:AUA baggage claim.JPG

File:Sign at Aruba Airport (Aeropuerto Internacional Reina Beatrix).jpg

File:Non-US departures building at AUA.JPG

File:AUA walkway to security.JPG

===Passenger===

{{airport-dest-list

| Air Canada Rouge | Seasonal: Toronto–Pearson

| Air Century | Punta Cana, Santo Domingo–La Isabela

| American Airlines | Charlotte, Miami, Philadelphia
Seasonal: Chicago–O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, New York–LaGuardia{{cite web|url= https://www.routesonline.com/airports/2361/aruba-airport-authority-nv/news/299663848/aruba-airport-winter-flight-schedule-updates/|title=Aruba Airport Winter Flight Schedule Updates|website=RoutesOnline|publisher=Informa Markets|date=December 3, 2024}}

| Arajet | Santo Domingo–Las Américas

| Avianca | Bogotá

| Avianca Ecuador | Bogotá

| British Airways | Antigua, London–Gatwick

| Copa Airlines | Panama City–Tocumen

| Delta Air Lines | Atlanta, New York–JFK
Seasonal: Boston, Minneapolis/St. Paul{{cite web|url=https://news.delta.com/trade-snow-sunshine-deltas-new-flights-msp-aruba-st-maarten-and-more|title= Trade snow for sunshine: Delta's new flights from MSP to Aruba, St. Maarten and more|date=Jun 21, 2024}}

| Divi Divi Air | Curaçao

| Frontier Airlines | Atlanta{{cite web |title=Frontier Airlines 2Q25 Atlanta Network Expansion |url=https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/250228-f9ns25atl |website=AeroRoutes |access-date=28 February 2025}}

| Gol Linhas Aéreas | São Paulo–Guarulhos{{cite web|url=https://flapinternational.com.br/aviacao-comercial/gol-anuncia-mais-um-destino-no-caribe/|title=Gol anuncia mais um destino no Caribe|website=Flap International|date=4 June 2024|access-date=6 June 2024|language=pt}}

| JetBlue | Boston, New York–JFK, Newark

| KLM | Amsterdam{{ref|1|1}}

| LATAM Perú | Lima{{cite web |title=LATAM Peru start flight to Aruba|url= https://aviacionaldia.com/2023/05/latam-airlines-anuncia-nueva-ruta-entre-lima-y-aruba.html|access-date=24 March 2023}}

| Sky High | Santo Domingo–Las Américas

| Southwest Airlines | Baltimore, Orlando

| Spirit Airlines | Fort Lauderdale

| Sun Country Airlines | Seasonal: Minneapolis/St. Paul

| Surinam Airways | Paramaribo

| TUI fly Netherlands | Amsterdam{{ref|1|2}}

| United Airlines | Chicago–O'Hare, Houston–Intercontinental, Newark, Washington–Dulles

| WestJet | Toronto–Pearson

| Winair| Curaçao, St. Maarten{{ref|1|3}}

| Wingo | Bogotá, Medellín–JMC
Seasonal: Cali

| Z Air | Bonaire, Curaçao

}}

;Notes

{{note|1|1}} KLM's flights operate to and from Bonaire on selected days.
{{note|1|2}} TUI Airlines Netherlands' flights operate between Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao on selected days. However, the airline does not have fifth freedom rights to transport passengers solely between Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao.
{{note|1|3}} Winair's flights operate between Aruba and Sint Maarten via Curaçao on selected days.

=Cargo=

{{Airport destination list

| Aerosucre | Bogotá

| Ameriflight | Aguadilla, San Juan

| Amerijet International | Miami, Santiago de los Caballeros, Santo Domingo–Las Américas

| DHL Aero Expreso | Curaçao, Panama City–Tocumen

| Vensecar Internacional | Curaçao, Panama City–Tocumen, Santo Domingo–Las Américas

}}

Statistics

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%"

|+Busiest US routes from Aruba (2009–2010){{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

! Rank

! Airport

! Passengers

! Carriers

| New York–JFK, New York

|{{center|237,498}}

| Delta, JetBlue

| Miami, Florida

|{{center|209,364}}

| American

| Newark, New Jersey

|{{center|145,448}}

| JetBlue, Continental/United

| Atlanta, Georgia

|{{center|139,547}}

| Delta

| Charlotte, North Carolina

|{{center|120,362}}

| US Airways/American

| Boston, MA

|{{center|113,910}}

| JetBlue, Delta

| Philadelphia, PA

|{{center|67,993}}

| US Airways/American

| Washington–Dulles, VA

|{{center|27,477}}

| United

| Chicago–O'Hare, Illinois

|{{center|18,362}}

| United, US Airways/American

| Houston–Intercontinental, TX

|{{center|15,727}}

| Continental/United

Accidents and incidents

On 13 January 2010, an Arkefly Boeing 767-300 (registration PH-AHQ), operating Flight 361 from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport to Queen Beatrix International Airport, declared an emergency after a man claimed to have a bomb on board. A struggle with the flight crew ensued, and the aircraft made an emergency landing at Shannon Airport, Ireland. Gardaí stormed the plane and arrested the man; he was taken to Shannon Garda police station. A passenger who had recently had surgery collapsed in the terminal while waiting for the continuation of the flight, and had to be taken to a local hospital. The replacement aircraft, PH-AHY, also a Boeing 767-300, continued the flight to Aruba. {{Citation needed|date=October 2019}}

References

=Citations=

=Bibliography=

{{cite book| author = Maurer Maurer| title = Air Force Combat Units of World War II: History and Insignia| date = 1 January 1982| publisher = Zenger Publishing Company, Incorporated| isbn = 978-0-89201-092-9 }}
{{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II|orig-year=1969|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161220180455/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= 20 December 2016 |edition= reprint|year=1982|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-405-12194-6|oclc=72556|lccn=70605402}}