SABA--St. Maarten Airways (SXM Airways) has been certified to operate chartered flights from St. Maarten to Saba’s Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport.
St. Maarten’s youngest airline had filed a request for an operating certificate for flights between St. Maarten and Saba with the Transport Inspectorate ILT at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment in The Netherlands and with the St. Maarten Civil Aviation Authority (SMCAA).
“We received approval mid-July and final certification July 30, 2018, to operate on-demand charters in and out of Saba,” Deputy Managing Director Elvis Queeley told The Daily Herald.
SXM Airways is already executing flights between St. Maarten and St. Eustatius on a regular basis, but for landing at Saba’s airport a special operating certificate is needed.
So far, only Windward Islands Airways International Winair and Windward Island Express were certified to execute flights to and from the world’s smallest commercial airstrip.
SXM Airways will be carrying out its Saba flights with a Britten-Norman Islander aircraft, which is able to take off and land at Saba’s very short runway.
SXM Airways can take off from Saba with a total of seven passengers. The amount of luggage to be transported can, at times, be limited due to local conditions at the airport, according to BES Reporter.
Saba’s airport will be closed from September 10 to facilitate the resurfacing of the airstrip and other improvements, including the construction of a helipad.
SXM Airways is a specialized provider of private air charter services, located at Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) in St. Maarten. The airline provides private air charters services throughout the Caribbean.
