 | This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
Curaçao International Airport Hato International Airport Aeropuerto Internashonal Hato Hato Internationale Luchthaven | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||||||
 | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | Curaçao Airport Holding | ||||||||||
| Operator | Curaçao Airport Partners | ||||||||||
| Serves | Curaçao | ||||||||||
| Location | Willemstad,Curaçao | ||||||||||
| Hub for | |||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 29 ft / 9 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 12°11′20″N068°57′35″W / 12.18889°N 68.95972°W /12.18889; -68.95972 | ||||||||||
| Website | curacao-airport.com | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  CUR Location in Curaçao | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Statistics (2024) | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Source: Curaçao Airport[1] | |||||||||||
Curaçao International Airport (IATA:CUR,ICAO:TNCC) (Papiamento:Aeropuerto Internashonal Hato,Dutch:Hato Internationale Luchthaven), also known asHato International Airport (formerly Dr. Albert Plesman International Airport), is the only airport for theDutch Caribbean island ofCuraçao, in the southernCaribbean Sea.
The airport is located on the north coast of Curaçao, 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) from the capitalWillemstad. The airport connects Curaçao island toEurope, theAmericas, and theCaribbean. It has the third longest commercial runway in the Caribbean region, accommodating up to aBoeing 747 and serves as a main base forDivi Divi Air andZ AIR. It formerly served as a main base forALM,KLM,DCA,DAE,Insel Air, andJetAir Caribbean.
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(November 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The airport was initially called Hato Airport, namesake of the nearby town ofHato. On 5 January 1954, the airport was renamed Dr. Albert Plesman airport. Plesman, director of the Royal Dutch Airlines for the Netherlands and Colonies, had died a few days earlier. Often it was spoken of Aeropuerto Plesman or Plesman Airport, unofficially also the name Hato remained in use till this day. Nowadays, the official name is Curaçao International Airport.
Albert Plesman, director ofKLM, said, "It will be unnecessary to set out in detail, of which it is of paramount importance, that the Dutch aviation industry gets a firm footing in the vicinity of the Caribbean sea, where air traffic is now becoming more and more a factor of economic significance." With this argument, in March 1934, Plesman hoped to receive financial support from the Comité Vliegtocht Nederland-Indië. It was a new plan to head to the West. In the 1920s, it started to take an interest in the Caribbean region. Curaçao was developing itself in a beneficial way due to the presence of the oil refinery, and a growing number of people were starting to choose the region with the purpose of vacationing. Aviation companies were paying close attention to these developments and were researching if it was possible to create a connection between theUnited States,Curaçao, andSouth America. The West Indische Government constructed a runway at the Hato plantation in Curaçao,
On 22 December 1934, the Snip plane arrived in Curaçao after an 8th day[clarification needed] during a trip with the route Amsterdam-Marseille-Alicante-Casablanca-Porto Praia-Paramaribo-La Guaria-Curaçao.
| This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(November 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Hato was one of the most important and busiest airports in the Caribbean during theSecond World War. The airport was used by theUnited States Army Air ForcesSixth Air Force for patrols against submarines. Flying units using the airfield were:
| This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(November 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
During the 1960s, the 'Bestuurscollege' commissioned Netherlands Airport Consultants B.V. (NACO) to design a Master plan for the airport. This assignment was in connection with the expected arrival of theBoeing 747. The runway was extended and the first KLM 'Jumbo' arrived on 6 November 1971, with the Boeing 747-200 ‘Mississippi’.
Curaçao International Airport N.V. (Curinta) was founded in 1977 and operated the Airport until 2013. Its predecessor was the 'Luchthavenbedrijf' (airport company), which was a department of the Government of Curaçao. After 2013, a public-private partnership was founded. The Curaçao Airport Holding (CAH) is owned by the government and CAH owns the airport and 450 hectares (1100 acres) of land around it. The CAH acts as supervisor of the Curaçao Airport Partners (CAP) who has a 30-year concession to operate and develop the airport. The CAP is a consortium ofZürich Airport (Switzerland),Janssen de Jong[2] (the Netherlands) andCCR (Brazil).[3][4]
In the 2010s, renovations and expansions were started so the airport could host more passengers. The runway and taxiway were renovated, a plaza was opened with catering and retail, and the old terminal was demolished.[5] A new departure hall took its place. It is fully air-conditioned with a system using cold seawater.[6] The airport receives about 3,300 private jets and airplanes yearly. A dedicated terminal or Jet Centre was opened to efficiently handle VIPS and artists at large events, and to be ready for even more private passengers in the future.[7]
| This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(December 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Year | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passengers handled[25] | 2,117,605 | 1,707,889 | 1,465,061 | 830,145 | 548,000 | 1,450,410 |
| Rank | Country | Passengers | % total | % change | Airlines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Netherlands | 177.042 | 41,0% |  11,0% | KLM,TUI fly Netherlands |
| 2 |  United States | 73.259 | 17,0% | 20,0% | American Airlines,Delta Air Lines,JetBlue,United Airlines |
| 3 |  Colombia | 23.593 | 5,5% | 38,0% | Avianca,Copa Airlines |
| 4 |  Canada | 21.169 | 4,9% | 11,0% | Air Canada,Sunwing Airlines,WestJet |
| 5 |  Germany | 18.536 | 4,3% |  10,0% | Condor |
| 6 |  Venezuela | 16.081 | 3,7% | 44,0% | Albatros Airlines,Avior Airlines,LASER Airlines |
| 7 |  Aruba | 14.060 | 3,3% | 13,0% | Aruba Airlines,Divi Divi Air,EZAir |
| 8 |  Brazil | 13.229 | 3,1% | 23,0% | Avianca,Wingo |
| 9 |  Suriname | 8.458 | 2,0% | 9,0% | Fly All Ways,Surinam Airways |
| 10 |  Belgium | 7.400 | 1,7% | 12,0% | TUI fly Belgium |
| Rank | Airline | Passenger share | Destinations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KLM | 29% | Amsterdam |
| 2 | TUI fly Netherlands | 19% | Amsterdam |
| 3 | American Airlines | 13% | Charlotte,Miami |
| 4 |  Divi Divi Air | 8% | Kralendijk,Oranjestad |
| 5 | EZAir | 6% | Barranquilla,Kralendijk,Medellín,Oranjestad |
| 6 | Avianca | 5% | Bogotá |
| 7 | Jetair Caribbean | 5% | Kingston,Medellín,Philipsburg,Port-au-Prince,Santo Domingo |
| 8 |  Copa Airlines | 4% | Panama City |
| 9 | JetBlue | 3% | New York |
| 10 | Wingo | 2% | Bogotá |
| This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(November 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Located on the west side of Hato Airport are hangars for the twoBombardier Dash 8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft and twoAgustaWestland AW139 helicopters of theDutch Caribbean Coast Guard. This was, until 2007, a naval airbase of the Royal Netherlands Navy, which operated the base for 55 years. With a wide variety of aircraft in the past years, Fireflies, Avengers, Trackers, Neptunes, Fokker F-27's, P-3C Orions, Fokker F-60's and several helicopters. After the political decision to sell all Orions, the airbase was no longer needed.
The west end of the airport is aUSAF Forward Operating Base (FOB). The base hostsAWACS and transport aircraft. Until 1999, the USAF operated a small fleet ofF-16 fighters from the FOB.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
Media related toHato International Airport at Wikimedia CommonsPreviously: Panama Canal Air Force (1940-1941); Caribbean Air Force (1941-1942) | |||||||||||||||
| Airfields |
| .jpg) | |||||||||||||
| Units |
| ||||||||||||||
