As of January 1, 1997 the airport of Aruba Aeropuerto Internacional Reina Beatrix, is managed by Aruba Airport Authority N.V. It was in that same year that AAA N.V. initiated its ambitious expansion and renovation project BEATRIX 2000, which was inaugurated on September 1, 2000. The Aruba Airport Authority N.V. is a limited liability corporation with the Government of Aruba as 100 % shareholder The Managing Director, Mr. Simon R. Arends, is supported by a staff of Division Managers, each one, professional in their own field, and more than 200 employees, contributing to the service of the clients, our passengers.

Since 1997, Aruba Airport Authority N.V. has the following Mission Statement:

"Aruba Airport Authority N.V. is a professional market oriented organization in the air transportation industry.

We are customer-driven and manage Aeropuerto Internacional Reina Beatrix according to internationally accepted standards for safety, security and service, in a friendly Aruban atmosphere.

We constantly increase the value of our company by optimizing our human and material resources.

Thus we contribute to the well being of our clients, our people and society."

Aruba as a world class vacation destination is becoming every day an even more attractive and passenger friendly destination in the Carribean. The new and renovated airport is contributing to this fact even more, with a passenger friendly terminal, at a very short distance from towns, business centers, shopping malls, hotels and the sugar white beaches.

As an autonomous corporation AAA went into the international market seeking finance for the Renovation & Expansion Project Beatrix 2000 and after an extensive review and restructuring of the company , issued successfully a Series 1997 US$ 63.9 mln Bonds to finance the project.

After one year the project needed additional funds to finance additional cost associated with the renovation and expansion project.

The original time schedule and budget had been exceeded, increasing the need for additional finance.

In September of 1999, a complementary series 1999 Bonds was issued for US$ 18.4 mln.

The project cost increased from US$ 68 mln to US$ 90 mln.

At that time several entities questioned whether a US$ 90 mln airport project was not too ambitious and too expensive for the island.

Today in 2001,however, it has been proven the contrary !
Our new renovated and expanded airport had a total of 38000 aircraft movements and more than 2.0 mln passengers going through in year 2000.

The Aruba International Queen Beatrix Airport is one of the busiest airports of the Caribbean region. The new airport terminal consists of three(3) separate terminal buildings connected at the airside by the holding rooms, arrival corridor , ramp offices and working spaces.

The US Bound Terminal with a total of 21 double Check-in counters, service all flights to the United States of America and houses besides the operators and other airport users, the pre-inspection service of the US Immigration, US Customs and US Agriculture, creating a special service to all passengers travelling to the USA, to arrive at their destination as a US domestic passenger.
The Non-US Bound Terminal with 12 double check-in counters is used for all flights other than US destination.

All check-in counters as well as gate counters and service desks are connected to a Common User Terminal Equipment (CUTE) system.

The Arrival Terminal is located between the US Bound and Non US Bound Terminals, housing Aruba Immigration, Aruba Customs and a Baggage Claim area equipped with three large conveyor belts for an efficient luggage and Baggage handling upon arrival.

The Concession Area has up to 19 stores on the ground floor and 10 additional stores in the holding rooms. The new terminals are equipped with sophisticated systems and equipments for the convenience and comfort of the passenger, inclusive a state of the art security system for the safety of the passengers and the airport community.

The new facilities have been designed to handle a flow of up to 2.6 mln passenger a year, which was projected to reach its maximum in 2010. The new facility covers a total area of 40,500 square meters compared to 10,700 square meters of the old terminal, back in 1972. The infrastructure of the airport is equipped with a modern communication and air navigational system and traffic control facilities.

The runway has a Cat(egory)-1 Instrument Landing System (ILS) and a parallel taxiway that extends about two-thirds of the length of the runway.

The Aruba Airport facilities operates year round, twenty-four hours, and is capable of handling the largest aircrafts.

The apron consists of 16 parking positions of which 13 with the Agnis Papa System and out of these , eight positions have boarding bridges.

In 1990, twelve scheduled carriers flew to Aruba on a regular basis.

In 1996, the same amount of regular carriers operated at the airport plus another fourteen non-scheduled carriers.

With the privatization of the airport operations, the authority was able to arrange an US Dollar Bond Issuance through the International Market, which received an airport"s debt credit rating Baa2 by Moody"s Investors Service and a BBB credit rating by Fitch IBCA International Rating Agency.

These results opened avenues for further financing of the airport terminal and operations. The investors showed confidence in the project Beatrix 2000 and its future.

The Authority introduced a new rates & charges' methodology to assure that the airport of Aruba not only covers its debts' requirement, but also maintain a decent debt ratio and its credit ratings.

There is no doubt that Aruba Airport Authority N.V. should not out-price the Aruba Airport compared to other facilities in the region.

As our Managing Director, Mr. Simon Arends said recently, "We should render the best service to the users at a reasonable price. The airport operations should offer a high quality of service which is expected from its clientele and definitely should do good business in benefit of all parties involved."

Moving into the 21st century , we are eager to serve the pleasure and business travel needs of our clients, the passengers and at the same time look into other airport non-passenger related business, to develop the Aruba International Airport facilities into a full-fledged airport in the coming years.

Aruba Airport Authority N.V. has the Human Resources and support of great advisors in this industry and business , to help us continue with the growth in the aviation industry, to be ready for the upcoming years and opportunities ahead.

Website: http://www.airportaruba.com/