Hundreds stranded as
PJIA runway lights fail
~ Night flights diverted to other airport ~
AIRPORT--Passengers huddled under blankets and tried to catch some sleep around the departure hall of Princess Juliana International Airport Sunday evening as operations crews tried to fix the runway edge lights that had failed around 8:00pm Saturday evening.
The failure of the lights has severely affected both inbound and outgoing night traffic at the second busiest airport in the Northeastern Caribbean.
Some 600 passengers scheduled to leave St. Maarten were left to find hotel rooms and other accommodations. However, hotels and guesthouses on the island are heavily booked with vacationers. Airline handling agents were able to find rooms for some elderly passengers. Others had to tough it out in the departure hall or “crash” with friends.
According to a brief press statement signed by Princess Juliana International Airport Operating Company President Eugene Holiday and issued last night, “as a result of the runway edge lights situation, some airlines diverted their flights to other airports in the region.”
Holiday confirmed that night operations at PJIA had been affected yesterday evening and said, “All airlines have been informed of the situation.”
“We regret the occurrence of this issue and apologise for any inconvenience that this issue may have caused to the travelling public and other airport users,” he added.
Passengers in North America, Puerto Rico, Curaçao and other Caribbean destinations were affected in addition to those stranded locally.
Work on the runway lights continued throughout the night and was expected to roll over into today, based on the airport estimate. Due to the heavy aircraft traffic yesterday, work on the runway edge lights was restricted and efforts to restore them are still ongoing.
One solution considered by airport officials to mitigate the problem and allow the departure of the flights was placing pickup trucks at the edge of the runway so their lights could guide the pilots. However, the viability of this method could not be agreed on by all parties involved, according to reports.
More than 20 flights, including Royal Dutch Airlines KLM, Dutch Antilles Express (DAE) and Windward Islands Airways International Winair, were cancelled Sunday night.
KLM passengers were already aboard the aircraft at around 7:00pm and waiting take off when they were informed that the flight had not been given permission to leave the island. After receiving updates every 30 minutes, finally they were told around 9:00pm that the flight would not be leaving and accommodations were very scarce.
Passengers who left the airport to find accommodations are expected to return to the airport early this morning for connections on other flights. KLM passengers are expected at the airport around 6:30am, a 12-hour delay of their flight.
