Five contractors have been invited to submit bids for the construction of the new Fixed Based Operation (FBO) facility at the Princess Juliana International Airport, SXM.
An information meeting will be held with the contractors on December 19, 2014, while they have to submit their bids by January 13, 2015. This tender process is in line with SXM’s procurement policy, which, in this case, is by invited bidding. Four of the five invited contractors are local while the fifth is from Curacao.
The location for the new FBO facility is where the Government Fire Department once stood (it has since been demolished to make way for the construction of the new FBO) and the area currently occupied by the Civil Aviation Authority and Meteorological Services of St. Maarten.
SXM Airport has remodeled and renovated the former Turtle Pier restaurant so that the new two-storey 400m2 facility could house both the Civil Aviation Authority and the Met Office until Government can build a permanent facility for both departments in the vicinity of the SXM Airport Air Traffic Control Tower.
Currently, both departments (Civil Aviation and Met Office) are set to conduct a final inspection of the new location within the coming week, with the relocation of said departments expected after the holiday season.
SXM has invested in the construction of a new inflation building for the Meteorological Services in the vicinity of the Air Traffic Control Tower.
Office space has also been built for the technical operations of the Met Office in the area of the new inflation building.
It will be recalled that SXM Airport recently signed an MOU with Arrindell by Signature to operate in the new facility. The non-exclusive agreement calls for Signature to offer passenger, ground handling and into plane fuel services for General Aviation (GA) from the new FBO Terminal. At least one other operator is expected in the new facility.
The new FBO Terminal building itself will occupy an area of 1,000 square meters with a space of 5,000 square meters for General Aviation parking. It will feature three retail outlets, and Customs, Immigration and Security services. The FBO operators at the new facility are expected to build their own lounges with additional services and amenities. The estimated construction period for the new facility is between 14-16 months.
Private aircraft are currently being handled at the present FBO facility. However, due to increased growth in this sector, and to maintain SXM’s competitive advantage, it became necessary to expand and upgrade the current facilities. Private jet aircraft movements for 2013 were up 13% over 2012. To date, and for the season, the island has been exceeding the number of bookings and private jets, over previous years.
