How many people travelled to and from the islands by air?
Nearly 504 thousand people passed through the airports of Bonaire, Saba and St Eustatius in 2023. That was 6 percent more than in 2022 and 10 percent more than in 2019. The number of aircraft movements to and from these airports was almost 15 percent higher than it was in 2022.
| Month | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 40.2 | 41.3 | 11.6 | 34.4 | 46.9 |
| Feb | 37.1 | 42.5 | 11.7 | 33.3 | 44.0 |
| Mrt | 43.4 | 25.4 | 10.2 | 41.8 | 46.2 |
| Apr | 38.7 | 0.3 | 9.0 | 42.6 | 43.6 |
| Mei | 37.6 | 0.6 | 14.9 | 39.8 | 41.2 |
| Jun | 36.4 | 4.0 | 23.7 | 36.8 | 36.9 |
| Jul | 39.1 | 14.8 | 36.6 | 45.0 | 44.0 |
| Aug | 38.2 | 16.3 | 35.7 | 40.2 | 39.1 |
| Sep | 30.5 | 7.6 | 26.6 | 34.3 | 35.9 |
| Okt | 36.0 | 4.7 | 35.4 | 41.2 | 39.4 |
| Nov | 38.7 | 9.3 | 35.3 | 41.3 | 40.3 |
| Dec | 41.4 | 15.8 | 39.7 | 45.0 | 46.5 |
In 2023, more than 447 thousand passengers arrived at or departed from Flamingo Airport on Bonaire, which was 89 percent of all passengers in the Caribbean Netherlands. Passenger numbers at Flamingo Airport were up by nearly 4 percent on 2022 and by over 16 percent on 2019.
The runway at Flamingo Airport on Bonaire is 3 kilometres long, which makes it possible for larger aircraft to land there. The runways on Saba and St Eustatius are shorter, and so these islands are served by smaller aircraft.
| Bonaire | St Eustatius | Saba | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 384.5 | 42.1 | 30.7 |
| 2020 | 160.5 | 13.2 | 9.0 |
| 2021 | 259.9 | 15.2 | 15.3 |
| 2022 | 431.7 | 22.7 | 21.3 |
| 2023 | 447.5 | 31.7 | 24.8 |
Largest increase in air passengers on St Eustatius
More than 56 thousand travellers passed through the airports of St Eustatius and Saba in 2023. The largest increase in air passengers was at F.D. Roosevelt airport on St Eustatius. Nearly 32 thousand people flew to and from this island, a year-on-year increase of nearly 40 percent.
Nearly 25 thousand passengers flew to and from Saba, up by nearly 17 percent relative to 2022.
Over 25 percent more flights to and from Bonaire
More than 14.2 thousand flights were handled at Flamingo Airport on Bonaire in 2023, up by 27 percent on 2022. F.D. Roosevelt Airport on St Eustatius handled over 5 thousand flights, up by 6 percent on 2022.
There was less air travel to and from Saba in 2023 than in the previous year, however, Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport handled 3.6 thousand flights in 2023, which was down by 6.7 percent.
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flamingo Airport (Bonaire) | 15.7 | 7.8 | 10.0 | 11.2 | 14.2 |
| F.D. Roosevelt Airport (St Eustatius) | 6.4 | 3.0 | 4.2 | 4.7 | 5.0 |
| Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport (Saba) | 3.5 | 1.9 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 3.6 |
Bonaire to Amsterdam is the most popular route
Of all flights on Bonaire, 74 percent were between Bonaire and Curaçao, carrying 146 thousand passengers. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol ranked second, with 10 percent of all flights. However, the most passengers were carried between Bonaire and Amsterdam: 188 thousand, or 42 percent of the total number of passengers.
Flights from St Eustatius and Saba mainly flew to and from St Maarten (75 and 88 percent of all flights, and 89 and 94 percent of passengers, respectively).
Source
More information about air travel to and from the Caribbean Netherlands