Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Bonaire International Airport Runway to Undergo Renovation
A major renovation of the runway at Bonaire International Airport, also known as Flamingo Airport, will begin on Sunday, February 13, 2011 and will take approximately four to five months to complete. To reduce flight interruption, the work will be done during the evenings, and not during the day, but there will be evening flights which are affected by the airport closings.
Passengers should be aware of the renovation schedule. From February 13 to March 27, 2011, the airport will be closed on Sundays, Mondays, and Wednesdays from 6:00 PM until the following morning at 4:00 AM. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the airport will close at 7:45 PM and open the following morning at at 5:45 AM. On Fridays and Saturdays, there will be no renovation and the airport will be open normal hours. The schedule for the remainder of the renovation will be announced when it becomes available. KLM has announced their flight schedule will remain the same, but passengers planning to fly in or out of Bonaire during this time frame are encouraged to check with their airline to verify flight times. For passengers connecting into or out from Curacao and Aruba, it is recommended they check with their connecting airlines for schedule changes and availability.
The renovation was approved and announced last summer and will bring the airport into compliance with international safety requirements. The renovation consists of removing and replacing the top five centimeters of runway asphalt, building two new turning areas for aircraft, along with new lighting, indication signs and approach lights. The control tower will also be equipped with a new electrical and control system, and there will be a new fence around the entire airport. The Fire Department will have a new access road to the runway, and eventually a new fire station will be built. The cost of the renovation is approximately $20 million and will be funded by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment. (Source: Bonaire International Airport Press Release)
Please note update on February 8, 2011: Click here (in PDF format) for a slightly revised schedule of runway closures for the time period of February 13, 2011 through March 27, 2011. Please note “LT” stands for “local time on Bonaire” while “UCT” stands for Universal Coordinated Time, the same as GMT, Greenwich Mean Time. (Source: Bonaire International Airport)
