Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Queen Beatrix International Airport (TNCA) is the principal international gateway to Aruba, sitting on the southern coast just outside Oranjestad. It offers a single long, lit runway with an ILS approach and full air traffic control, making it a straightforward and well-equipped destination for a Caribbean VFR or IFR flight in the simulator.
Queen Beatrix International Airport serves Oranjestad and the island of Aruba as its main air gateway, handling airline traffic from North America, Europe and the wider Caribbean and South America. For a simulator pilot it offers a single substantial hard-surfaced runway, an ILS approach, and a fully controlled tower environment, giving a realistic mix of airline procedures and Caribbean island flying.
The airport lies on the southern coast of Aruba, close to Oranjestad, within controlled airspace served by its own tower. It sits a few kilometres from the town centre and the island's low-rise and high-rise hotel districts, on low, flat coastal terrain typical of the island.
The airport has a single physical runway, 11/29, aligned roughly east-west. Runway 29 is 9,187 feet long and Runway 11 is 8,993 feet long; both are hard-surfaced and lit, and Runway 11 is equipped with an ILS approach. Field elevation is 36 feet.
Beatrix Tower provides air traffic control on 120.9 MHz. Ground movements are handled on 121.9 MHz, with a miscellaneous frequency of 123.1 MHz also published. A search and rescue frequency (RMP) is available on 121.6 MHz. An ATIS broadcast is transmitted on 132.1 MHz. Runway 11 is served by an ILS for instrument approaches.
Aviation at the site dates back to 1934, when Manuel Viana began a weekly mail and passenger service between Aruba and Curaçao, flown by A. J. Viccellio in a Loening C-2H Air Yacht from a mud-flat runway. KLM took over commercial services from 24 December 1934, later moving operations to a graded runway known as the KLM field; the airline's Fokker tri-motors Snip and Oriol flew the Aruba-Curaçao route into the 1940s. During the Second World War the airfield was used by the United States Army Air Forces Sixth Air Force to defend Caribbean shipping and the Panama Canal against German submarines, and was renamed Dakota Field, with its terminal known as Dakota Airport. Squadrons based there flew A-20 Havocs, B-18 Bolos and P-40 Warhawks between 1942 and 1944. On 22 October 1955 the airport was named after Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands during a royal visit, and it took its present name, Queen Beatrix International Airport, following her accession to the Dutch throne in 1980.
The airport now functions as a major international airline hub, serving as the home base for Aruba Airlines and offering United States border preclearance facilities for US-bound passengers. It has undergone significant expansion in recent years, including a new US check-in terminal opened in 2025 as part of a longer-term development programme. The field is fully controlled, with tower, ground and ATIS services, and Runway 11 offers an ILS approach for instrument flying practice.