Queen Beatrix International Airport (Papiamento

Papiamento

Papiamento is the most widely spoken language on the Caribbean ABC islands, having the official status on the islands of Aruba and Curaçao. The language is also recognized on Bonaire by the Dutch government....

: Aeropuerto Internacional Reina Beatrix), in Oranjestad

Oranjestad, Aruba

Oranjestad is the capital and largest city of Aruba, which is in the Caribbean north of Venezuela. Oranjestad is located on the southern coast near the western end of the island country...

, Aruba

Aruba

Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...

, is an aviation facility. It has flight services to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, most countries in the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

, the northern coastal countries of South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and some parts of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, notably the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. It was named after Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands

Beatrix of the Netherlands

Beatrix is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands comprising the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and Aruba. She is the first daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. She studied law at Leiden University...

, the head of state

Head of State

A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...

 of Aruba.

This airport

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

 used to serve as the hub for bankrupt airline

Airline

An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

 Air Aruba

Air Aruba

Air Aruba was the main air carrier from the island of Aruba. It was founded in 1986 and it declared bankruptcy in 2000. It was headquartered in the Brown Invest Building in Oranjestad, Aruba.- History :...

, which was for many years an international airline. Before Aruba's separation from the Netherlands Antilles

Netherlands Antilles

The Netherlands Antilles , also referred to informally as the Dutch Antilles, was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of two groups of islands in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao , in Leeward Antilles just off the Venezuelan coast; and Sint...

 in 1986 it was also one of three hubs for Air ALM

Air ALM

ALM Antillean Airlines was the main airline of the Netherlands Antilles between its foundation in 1964 and its shut-down in 2001, operating out of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao....

. The airport

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

 has a new airline, Tiara Air

Tiara Air

Tiara Air is an airline based in Aruba. Tiara Air has flights to Curaçao, Punto Fijo, Bonaire and Riohacha. The airline is operating two Shorts 360 twin-engine turboprop aircraft built in 1983 and it is rumored there are plans to upgrade its current fleet with regional turboprops/jets. The airline...

 .

The airport offers US Border Pre-clearance facilities

United States border preclearance

The United States operates border preclearance facilities at a number of ports and airports in foreign countries. They are staffed and operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. Travelers pass through Immigration and Customs, Public Health, and Department of Agriculture inspections...

.

A terminal for private aircraft opened in 2007.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger airlines

Cargo airlines

Charter & seasonal airlines

{|
|
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%" width=align=
|+ Busiest US Routes from Aruba (2009–2010)
|-
! Rank
! Airport
! Passengers
! Carriers
|-
| 1
| New York (JFK), New York

John F. Kennedy International Airport

John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...

| 237,498
| American Airlines, Delta Airlines, JetBlue
|-
| 2
| Miami, Florida
| 209,364
| American Airlines
|-
| 3
| Newark, New Jersey

Newark Airport

Newark Airport may refer to:Airports:* Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, United States * Newark-Heath Airport in Newark, Ohio, United States Other:...

| 145,448
| Continental Airlines
|-
| 4
| Atlanta, Georgia
| 139,547
| AirTran, Delta Airlines
|-
| 5
| Charlotte, North Carolina

Charlotte/Douglas International Airport

Charlotte Douglas International Airport is a joint civil-military public international airport located in Charlotte, North Carolina. Established in 1935 as Charlotte Municipal Airport, in 1954 the airport was renamed Douglas Municipal Airport after former Charlotte mayor Ben Elbert Douglas, Sr...

| 120,362
| US Airways
|-
| 6
|   Boston, MA

Logan International Airport

General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport is located in the East Boston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts . It covers , has six runways, and employs an estimated 16,000 people. It is the 19th busiest airport in the United States.Boston serves as a focus city for JetBlue Airways...

| 113,910
| JetBlue, US Airways
|-
| 7
|   Philadelphia, PA

Philadelphia International Airport

Philadelphia International Airport is a major airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, and is the largest airport in the Delaware Valley region and in Pennsylvania...

| 67,993
| US Airways
|-
| 8
|   Washington (Dulles), D.C.

Washington Dulles International Airport

Washington Dulles International Airport is a public airport in Dulles, Virginia, 26 miles west of downtown Washington, D.C. The airport serves the Baltimore-Washington-Northern Virginia metropolitan area centered on the District of Columbia. It is named after John Foster Dulles, Secretary of...

| 27,477
| United Airlines
|-
| 9
|   Chicago (O'Hare), Illinois

O'Hare International Airport

Chicago O'Hare International Airport , also known as O'Hare Airport, O'Hare Field, Chicago Airport, Chicago International Airport, or simply O'Hare, is a major airport located in the northwestern-most corner of Chicago, Illinois, United States, northwest of the Chicago Loop...

| 18,362
| United Airlines
|-
| 10
|   Houston, TX (Bush)

George Bush Intercontinental Airport

George Bush Intercontinental Airport, is a Class B international airport in Houston, Texas, serving the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area, the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Located north of Downtown Houston between Interstate 45 and U.S. Highway 59...

| 15,727
| Continental Airlines
|}

World War II

During World War II the airport was used by the United States Army Air Force Sixth Air Force defending Caribbean shipping and the Panama Canal

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...

 against German submarines. Flying units assigned to the airfield were:

• 59th Bombardment Squadron
  59th Bombardment Squadron
  The 59th Bombardment Squadron is a United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment wa with the 319th Bombardment Group, based at Birmingham Airport, Birmingham, Alabama...
  
   (9th Bombardment Group) 14 January-24 September 1942 (A-20 Havoc)
• 12th Bombardment Squadron
  12th Missile Squadron
  The United States Air Force's 12th Missile Squadron is a missile unit located at Malmstrom AFB, Montana.-Mission:The mission of the 341st Missile Wing is to keep America free and strong by providing combat-ready people and aerospace forces.-Heraldry:...
  
   (25th Bombardment Group) 10 October 1942–23 November 1943 (B-18 Bolo)
• 22d Fighter Squadron
  22d Fighter Squadron
  The 22d Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 52d Operations Group and stationed at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. It was inactivated on 13 August 2010.-World War II:...
  
   (36th Fighter Group
  36th Wing
  The United States Air Force's 36th Wing is the host wing for Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. It is part of United States Pacific Air Forces Thirteenth Air Force...
  
  ) 2 September 1942-April 1943 (P-40 Warhawk)
• 32d Fighter Squadron
  32nd Air Operations Squadron
  The 32d Air Operations Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with 32d Air Operations Group, based at Ramstein Air Base, Germany...
  
   (Antilles Air Command
  Antilles Air Command
  The Antilles Air Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Sixth Air Force, based at Borinquen Field, Puerto Rico...
  
  ) 9 March 1943-March 1944 (P-40 Warhawk)

Incidents and accidents

• 13 January 2010, an Arkefly
  Arkefly
  ArkeFly is a Dutch charter airline headquartered in Schiphol-Rijk on the grounds of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands. It is the charter carrier of the Dutch arm of the German travel conglomerate TUI and its main base is Schiphol Airport...
  
   Boeing 767-300 PH-AHQ operating flight OR361 from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
  Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
  Amsterdam Airport Schiphol ) is the Netherlands' main international airport, located 20 minutes southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer. The airport's official English name, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, reflects the original Dutch word order...
  
   to Aruba Airport declared an emergency after a man who claimed to have a bomb on board insued a struggle with the flight crew, the aircraft made an emergency Landing at Shannon Airport
  Shannon Airport
  Shannon Airport, is one of the Republic of Ireland's three primary airports along with Dublin and Cork. In 2010 around 1,750,000 passengers passed through the airport, making it the third busiest airport in the Republic of Ireland after Dublin and Cork, and the fifth busiest airport on the island...
  
  . Gardai stormed the plane and arrested the man, where he was taken to Shannon Garda station. A passenger having had surgery earlier the month before collapsed in the terminal while waiting for the continuation of the flight and had to be taken to a local hospital. The repacment aircraft PH-AHY also a Boeing 767-300 continued the flight to Aruba.