Departure
95%
vs 95%
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Flamingo International Airport, also known as Bonaire International Airport, sits on the southwest coast of Bonaire in the Caribbean Netherlands, just outside Kralendijk. It is the largest airport in the Dutch Caribbean island group of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, with a single long runway capable of handling wide-body jets, making it a straightforward and scenic destination for simulator pilots flying transatlantic or Caribbean island-hopping routes.
Flamingo International Airport serves the island of Bonaire in the Caribbean Netherlands and is operated by Bonaire International Airport N.V. It is the largest airport in the Caribbean Netherlands and the fourth largest in the Dutch Caribbean, behind Aruba, Sint Maarten and Curacao. For a simulator pilot the field is notable for its single very long runway set against the arid, cactus-studded terrain of Bonaire, with the turquoise waters of the Caribbean close by, and for a history that traces the growth of aviation on the island from a rough 1930s landing strip to a modern international gateway able to accept aircraft as large as the Boeing 747.
The airport lies near Kralendijk, the capital of Bonaire, on the island's southwest coast in the Caribbean Netherlands. It is the primary aerodrome for the island and the focus of arriving and departing traffic in the surrounding airspace.
The airfield has a single physical runway, 10/28, with a hard surface and runway lighting. Runway 28 is 10,017 feet long and Runway 10 is 9,435 feet long, giving ample length for wide-body jet operations. There is no ILS installed.
The tower callsign operates on 118.7 MHz. Additional published aeronautical information indicates the field also operates a non-directional beacon on 321 kHz and a VOR on 115 MHz, with a simple approach landing aid associated with Runway 10; no visual approach aids are noted for Runway 28.
Bonaire's first airstrip was built in 1936 near Tra'i Montana, close to Subi Blanku, crossing the road between Kralendijk and Rincon; construction had begun in September 1935 and the runway could only be extended to about 475 metres due to low-lying ground to the east. KLM route-tested the first flight to Bonaire from Curacao on 9 May 1936 using a Fokker F-XVIII named Oriol, and made the first official passenger flight on 31 May 1936. American forces arrived on Bonaire in the second half of 1943, and their commander ordered a new airport built; construction began in December 1943 near the site of today's airport, and the new Flamingo Airport opened in 1945 with a small terminal that remained in use until 1976. A new runway begun in late 1953 was completed in 1955. By 1960 the runway measured 1,430 metres by 30 metres, and continued pressure from the island's hotels and other interests to accommodate American charter flights using McDonnell Douglas DC-8 and Boeing 707 aircraft led to a 1970 extension to 1,750 metres, enough for a fully loaded McDonnell Douglas DC-9. A tender for a new terminal building was issued on 7 June 1974, and that terminal became operational in 1976. Further hotel and investor pressure led to another extension in 1980, to 2,400 metres by 45 metres, enabling the first Bonaire-Miami flight on 19 April 1980. A final extension in October 2000 brought the runway to its current length, sufficient for intercontinental airliners at maximum takeoff weight. Between 1997 and 2011 KLM used the airport as a refuelling stop for MD-11 and Boeing 747 flights between Amsterdam and Ecuador and Peru, and KLM began direct flights to Peru and later Ecuador with a Bonaire fuel stop in 2002.
The airport today handles scheduled international services from carriers including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, KLM, TUI Airlines Netherlands and United Airlines, with JetBlue Airways joining from November 2024; it is a hub for Z Air and a focus city for Divi Divi Air. The runway and its 2,880 metre length allow it to accommodate wide-body aircraft up to Boeing 747 size, with the Airbus A350-900 operated by Corendon Dutch Airlines currently the largest type using the field. Local flight training and sightseeing flights have historically been offered by BonAeroClub and Falki Aviation Center using Cessna 172 aircraft.