Low-flying planes on Maho Beach, photos and videos. The most unusual airport in the world (video) Air Caraibes review

Princess Juliana Airport in the Dutch part of the island of St. Maarten is one of the largest air hubs Caribbean region. Among the top ten dangerous airports peace. In the seventeenth century, the conquistadors laid siege for a long time, but were never able to take possession of the island, which was divided between the Netherlands and France according to the oldest treaty of 1648. By the way, the agreement still has de jure force. In 1942, an airfield was hastily built here, which is now an international airport. Named after the Queen of the Netherlands, who visited here as Crown Princess in 1944, a year after the airport opened.

The runway is only 2,180 meters long - barely enough to large airliners. For heavy aircraft, such as a Boeing 747 or Airbus A340, this is not enough - but there are no other options for landing here. The pilots bring the plane to land directly above famous beach Maho Beach. That's why this place is so popular among plainspotters. Maho Beach - perfect place for a detailed look at low-flying aircraft. It’s hard to believe the authenticity of the pictures: giant airliners fly at an altitude of 10-20 meters above the vacationers. Despite the unusual take-off and landing conditions, not a single accident was recorded here.

Saint Martin Island is the smallest piece of land in the world with dual citizenship. The northern part is regulated by the French government, while the southern side is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. English language Spoken on both sides, Dutch is the official language on the southern side and French on the northern half of the island. The island has two capitals - Marigot and Philipsburg. When they say Saint Martin, they mean the French part of the island, and Saint Martin (or Sint Maarten) means the Dutch part. There is also an airport on the French side of the island near Marigot, called Aéroport de Grand Case.

Terminal

The new four-story building offers all the services you need on the road. Air-conditioned premises, shops, pharmacies, ATMs, taxi and information counters. Wi-Fi is everywhere in the terminal.

You can land a plane at this unusual airport in the popular game - Microsoft flight simulator Flight Simulator X.B full version program this mission is called “Caribbean Landing”.

How to get there

Rent a car. Here are the following car rental companies:

• Adventure Car Rental American Car Rentals
• Avis car rental Best Deal car rental
• Hertz Car Rental Lucky Car Rental
• Paradise Island Car rental Safari car rental
• Sidro United Sunshine Car Rental
• Thrifty Car Rental

You can ask the price and immediately book a car of any class on official websites.

Taxis drive tirelessly all over the island. Moving from the airport to the nearest city of Philipsburg will cost about $30.

Airport shuttles operate throughout the island. They don't have numbers; the route is written on the bus itself. The island is small, any transport moves freely throughout the entire territory.

There are also hotel shuttles. Many hotels on the coast have their own shuttle service.

Here! I’ve been wanting to get here for a long time and “grab the plane by the tail.” This is not photoshop, this is real place. Cool!

Remember, we already discussed it...

There are quite a few things associated with the island of Saint Martin, located in the Caribbean Sea. interesting facts. Not only is it the smallest inhabited island in the world, but it is also governed by two independent governments, France and the Netherlands, at the same time! However, the main thing that St. is famous for is. Maarten, that when landing, the planes almost touch the beach and the tourists relaxing on it.

During the whole history Caribbean Islands, most of them were inhabited by Indians. St. Martin was no exception. Saint Martin's Island was the home of the Arawak Indians. Of course, as history says, the island was discovered by Christopher Columbus, but before European explorers reached St. Martin, Caribbean Indians attacked the island, capturing the local population, many of whom were killed. Most of the Arawak Indians were taken by the Caribbean as slaves. When Europeans arrived on the island, it was already under the control of aggressive Caribbean Indian warriors.

Columbus never visited Saint Martin Island, but history says that on November 11, 1493, Columbus saw the island and named it in honor of the feast of Saint Martin of Tours.

St. Martin, an island of 37 square miles, is the smallest landmass in the world, divided between two governments. Its dual owners are France and Holland.

And of course the island has two capitals, or administrative centers. This is Marigot, the administrative center of the French side, and the city of Philipsburg, the capital of the part of the island belonging to the Netherlands. These two states have been peacefully sharing a small piece of island paradise for more than 350 years.

Saint Martin Island is located approximately 150 miles east of Puerto Rico and is part of the Netherlands Antilles.

French territory occupies approximately two-thirds of the island, and is considered a European territory and community. The Dutch side belongs to the Netherlands Antilles, and is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and is not considered a European territory. In St. Martin, there are no real borders, just modest monuments and signs.

The island is known for its exotic nature, almost ideal for relaxation. The island also impresses its visitors with its beaches and nightlife, and the shops and restaurants of St. Martin are the best in Caribbean.

Saint Martin is an island with a rapidly growing economy, home to residents from more than 90 countries.

St. Martin is rich in beaches, there are 37 of them on the island, all of which are open to the general public.

The island will appeal to everyone. And for lovers of scuba diving, and those who like to travel on a yacht and those who just like to sunbathe. But we must remember that the rays of the Caribbean sun really burn the skin of the body, and therefore without sunscreen, doctors on the island strongly do not recommend sunbathing.

Also, if you are traveling to the island of St. Martin on vacation with children, then you need to carefully choose a beach, given that some of the island’s beaches are nudist. One of these official beaches is Cupecoy Beach, located on the Dutch side of St. Martin.

On the Dutch side, there are beautiful, long beaches with golden sand and green mountains, where you can sunbathe, play ball or Frisbee.

Down Beach is one of the best beaches, for scuba diving. Even when swimming not far from the shore, you can see beautiful exotic fish swimming calmly near the coral reefs.

Guano Bay is a beach that is perfect for guys who love to surf, as well as for strong swimmers who love a hard swim.

Bay Long, on the French side, is a beach for the rich and famous. Two mile beach with the most expensive real estate. Multi-million dollar homes overlooking scenic view white sand beach.

It is worth remembering that all tourists arriving on the island of St. Martin must have return ticket. Also, if a citizen arriving on the island has more than $11,000 with him, then he must report this to the customs service and fill out a declaration. If you intend to bring a dog or cat or any other animal with you to the island, then you must have a veterinarian’s certificate with you, no older than 6 months.

Saint Martin is located in the Atlantic time zone, which is equal to 4 hours Greenwich Mean Time (GMT-4).

Any foreigner wishing to work on St. Martin must have a work permit before arriving on the island. This must be organized by the employer wishing to employ a foreigner.

Princess Juliana Airport- one of the largest transport hubs in the Caribbean region. It is among the ten most dangerous airports in the world. Located on the island of St. Martin. During World War II, an airfield was built on the island, which is now Princess Juliana International Airport. Takeoff/landing is of medium or high difficulty for the pilot, depending on weather conditions.

The end of the airport runway is located directly on the seashore, close to Maho Beach, so that when approaching aircraft, they fly at an altitude of 10-20 meters above the heads of tourists relaxing on the beach behind the end of the runway. The place is known as "Spotter's Paradise".

There is an international airport on the island. In 1942, during World War II, an airstrip was built on the island. In 1944, Crown Princess Juliana of the Netherlands visited the island and landed on this runway. A year later, the Dutch authorities opened a small airport on this site, which later grew into an international one.

Princess Juliana Airport, also known as Saint Martin International Airport, serves the Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin. In 2007, the airport served almost 1.7 million passengers and 104 thousand aircraft, which is its record to date.

The airport serves as the center airways Windward Islands and is the main gateway to the smaller Leeward Islands, including Anguilla, Saba, St. Bartholomew's Island and St. Eustatius Island.

Princess Juliana Airport is one of the most dangerous airports in the world, with high landing difficulties. It gained such fame due to the very low altitude when landing on the runway, and also because Maho Beach and the sea are practically adjacent to the runway. The History Channel ranked it as the 4th most dangerous airport in the world.

Despite the fact that Princess Juliana Airport has a high landing difficulty, two accidents have occurred here in its history. The first occurred on May 2, 1970, when McDonnell Douglas DC-9CF Flight 980 crashed into the sea near the beach. 22 people out of 57 were killed. The weather at that time did not allow landing the first time, the pilots decided to make several more attempts, but, alas, they ran out of fuel. Second - December 21, 1972 Air flight France De Havilland Canada Twin Otter took off from Guadeloupe but crashed into the sea on approach, killing all 11 passengers on board along with both pilots.

We can say that the island of St. Martin is more popular among photo tourists than among amateurs beach holiday. Almost everyone who comes to Princess Juliana Airport, after leaving the airport, does not go to the hotel, but goes straight to the beach to take a photo of themselves against the backdrop of a landing plane that flies overhead.

And here is the airport itself:

Saint Martin has only one airport, which annually receives tens of thousands of tourists from all over the world. The only feature of this airport is its short runway - only 2130 meters, which is not enough to land wide-body aircraft such as Boeing-747. The people of Saint Martin are certainly not happy about this fact, but somehow they need to welcome tourists.

So planes fly from Mainland in Saint Martin is literally over the heads of vacationers. The fact is that the territory of the airport named after. Princess Juliana begins right behind a thin strip of beach, where you can recline under the scorching Caribbean sun local residents and tourists. Some travel agencies even offer special tours for those who want to view the huge area of ​​the bottom of a Boeing while lying on the warm golden sand.

The island of Saint Martin (some use the name Sint Maarten) and its airport are located in the Caribbean Sea, which is one of the most popular tourist regions in the world. Almost every island that can be reached comfortably has development potential. There are two main ways to solve the delivery of passengers: ship or plane.

Sea and ocean cruises create a significantly smaller portion of the tourist flow compared to by air. But the cost and complexity of air harbor infrastructure is significantly higher and sometimes requires non-standard solutions from engineers and architects.

The island of St. Martin in the Lesser Antilles archipelago has one of the most interesting airports in the world (ranked in the top 10 in terms of danger rating, according to Reuters). It also plays a big role in transport support nearby areas: St. Eustatius, Saba, St. Barthelemy and Anguilla.

Princess Juliana Airport (full official name) has the ability to receive even large planes class Boeing 747, although the landing strip, with a normal width of 45 m, is only 2300 m long, which is the maximum permissible value for some types of airliners. In this regard, takeoffs and landings taking place at a glide slope of 3° are considered the most dangerous in the Caribbean region.

The construction of the airport began with the construction of a military air base back in 1942. Although already in 1943, due to the lack of military operations in the region during the Second World War, it was converted into a civilian one. After 1964, it was reconstructed and a new control tower and terminal appeared. After 1985, it was modernized, so it began to be able to accept long-haul classes of aircraft and fully comply with the high development of tourism in Sint Maarten.

Features of the air harbor

Here we can talk about a variety of factors.

The island has a relatively small area - only 87 km², with predominantly hilly terrain and tropical thickets.

The island is divided by different states: the northern part is the French overseas community of Saint-Martin, South part- an autonomous entity of Sint Maarten, subordinate to the Dutch crown.

Only after 1994 was the Franco-Dutch protocol signed border control. Landing strip its end rests on Maho Beach in the west of the Dutch part. Airplanes land and take off directly above the heads of tourists, 10-20 m above the surface.

Spectacular photographs and videos of airplanes bring incredible popularity to Princess Juliana among other airports in the world. Nearby there are several cafes and hotels that specialize in... known form islands. A loudspeaker is installed on the beach, which reports about planes approaching to land and broadcasts conversations between dispatchers and crew.

In the central part of Maho, wind speeds can reach 180 km/h, which can be very dangerous and even fatal for humans, but this does not stop curious tourists who try to take vivid photos and shoot videos of the aircraft.

In 2012, renowned photographer Josef Heflener published black-and-white spotter photographs from the area around the airport, including them in the book Jetliner: The Complete Works.

Infrastructure

The capacity is thus up to 30 flights per hour.

The dispatch service also provides control over other small airports in this area: Clayton J. Lloyd, L’Espérance, Gustaf III. The terminal, with an area of ​​30,500 m², can serve up to 2,500,000 passengers per year. In the entire history of the airport, not a single accident has been recorded, although this runway is considered one of the most difficult for airliner crews and air traffic control services.

Photos and videos from Sint Maarten airport

View of the island of Sint Maarten

This is what Princess Juliana Airport looks like

In this regard, takeoffs and landings taking place at a glide slope of 3° are considered the most dangerous in the Caribbean region.

Runway Princess Juliana Airport

The end of the landing strip abuts Maho Beach in the west of the Dutch part. Airplanes land and take off directly above the heads of tourists, 10-20 m above the surface.

Runway

The location and topography of the island of Sint Maarten did not allow for the construction of a full-fledged runway. Therefore, it was decided to build a strip of the minimum permissible length for long-haul airliners(eg 747). The width was increased to 45 m. Radar systems provide a range of up to 460 km.

The capacity is thus up to 30 flights per hour. The dispatch service also provides control over other small airports in this area: Clayton J. Lloyd, L’Espérance, Gustaf III. The terminal, with an area of ​​30,500 m², can serve up to 2,500,000 passengers per year. In the entire history of the airport, not a single accident has been recorded, although this runway is considered one of the most difficult for airliner crews and air traffic control services.

Incredible facts

The most incredible airport is located on the island of Sint Maarten in the Caribbean Sea. The strange thing about this airport is that planes, coming in to land, fly a few meters above the beach with tourists vacationing there, and the runway itself begins very close to the coast.

Looking at the photos of Boeings and Airbuses landing, it may seem that this is just a joke for those who like to play with Photoshop, but the reality is this: the island’s territory is so small, and there are so many people who want to come here, that you have to save space.

The slightest mistake by the pilot and you could end up in the water.

Planes are landing, disturbing the serene rest of vacationers.

The airport was built to serve the island of Sint Maarten. In the eastern Caribbean, this airport is the second busiest.

The runway is very small and starts just 12 meters from the beach, being only 2180 meters long.

Fortunately, there have been no reports of any accidents in the area of ​​this dangerous airport.

Those who are afraid of thrills will prefer another, less “nervous” place to relax.

1) Airport on Caribbean island Saba. The runway of this airport is located quite strange place: there are cliffs at both ends. However, it costs an experienced pilot nothing to land the plane in the right place if there is at least some kind of runway.

A similar situation is observed on Madeira Island , where there is a break on one side of the strip. Some time ago, this airport was notorious because it had a too short runway, which was sandwiched on one side by mountains and on the other by the ocean. Later the strip was expanded and doubled in size by installing a bridge with columns on one side.

Mountain Airport

2) Courchevel Airport (France). Courchevel - name ski resort in the French Alps, which is visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. The easiest way to get to these places is to take a plane.

Do you think it is impossible to build an airport in the mountains? It is possible, although a little strange. Courchevel Airport has a very short runway - only 525 meters long, with a slope of 18.5 degrees!

3) Barra Airport is the only airport in the world where planes land directly on the beach. The Isle of Barra is one of the islands of the Outer Hebrides archipelago, which belongs to Great Britain.

There is virtually no runway in these places, and planes land directly on the beach. Due to the tides, once a day this strange airport is literally submerged under water. Needless to say that relaxing on this beach is prohibited?

Unusual airport on the island

4) international Airport Kansai The Japanese city of Osaka occupies an entire island. Since the Japanese cannot boast of large spaces, and every piece of land matters, they had to build an airport, first building an island for it.

The artificial island consists of two parts, the length of most of it is 4 kilometers, and the width of the island is 2.5 kilometers. This island is a true masterpiece of engineering. Unfortunately, due to global warming and rising sea levels, this artificial island flooding is in danger.