The stranded tourists transferred to a KLM aircraft from the Air Antilles aircraft that transported them from St. Maarten to Curaçao. In photo are the two aircraft on the tarmac at Curaçao’s Hato International Airport.
AIRPORT--A repatriation flight brought a group of stranded tourists from St. Maarten to Curaçao on Wednesday, April 15. This was to ensure they made a same-day connection to the Netherlands on board a Royal Dutch Airlines KLM flight.
The repatriation flight departed Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) and arrived Hato International Airport in Curaçao sometime Wednesday afternoon. The passengers were transferred “wing to wing” to the weekly KLM flight from Curaçao to Amsterdam.
The passengers were led to a transit area, from which they then boarded the KLM aircraft. “This prevented contact with airport and aviation staff,” said the Dutch Representation Office VNP in a press release on Thursday.
Most of the stranded tourists were Dutch and were returning home. However, an undisclosed number of European nationals and two Australians were also on board the flight. From Amsterdam they are to continue to their final destinations.
The KLM flight departed Curaçao on time and is scheduled to land around 7:00am today, Friday (Amsterdam time).
The VNP coordinated the repatriation flight between St. Maarten and Curaçao. According to website curacao.nu, the stranded tourists had to pay NAf. 800 for the one-way ticket to Curaçao, in addition to their ticket to Amsterdam.
