Departure
90%
vs 95% ▼ 6
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport is a small STOL airfield on the Dutch Caribbean island of Saba, home to what is widely regarded as the shortest commercial runway in the world. Served exclusively by Winair's short-hop propeller aircraft from Sint Maarten, it sits on a narrow shelf of land wedged between steep hillside and sea cliffs, making it a striking and demanding destination for any visiting pilot.
Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport, on the island of Saba in the Caribbean Netherlands, is operated by Winair and serves as the island's only air link, connecting it with Sint Maarten via short Twin Otter and Islander flights. It is named after the Aruban politician Juancho Irausquin, though a spelling error at the time of naming left the airport officially spelled with a Y rather than an I. For simulator pilots the field is chiefly notable for its tiny single runway, hemmed in by high ground on one side and sheer drops into the sea at both ends, making it one of the most distinctive short-field approaches anywhere.
The airport lies at Zion's Hill on Saba, a small volcanic island in the Caribbean Netherlands. The runway occupies almost the only flat ground on the island, flanked on one side by high hills and terminating at both ends in cliffs that fall away into the sea, leaving no margin for overrun in either direction.
The airfield has a single physical runway, 12/30, of 977 feet with a hard, lit surface. There is no parallel or secondary runway. The strip's shortness and its cliff-edge thresholds close it to jet traffic; only aircraft with genuine short take-off and landing performance, such as the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter and Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander, are able to operate here.
Traffic is worked by Saba Information on 118.25 MHz. The airport's tower provides an advisory service only and does not offer air traffic control, so pilots remain responsible for their own separation and sequencing. There is no ILS or other instrument approach aid at the field, and aviation fuel is not available on the island.
With no air traffic control, arriving and departing aircraft operate under the advisory guidance of Saba Information rather than positive control instructions. The combination of high terrain to one side of the runway and sea cliffs at both thresholds demands a visual approach flown with precision, and the short landing distance available leaves no scope for a long or fast touchdown.
The runway's setting is itself the primary visual reference: a narrow strip of asphalt bounded by steep hillside on one side and by cliffs dropping to the sea at each end. The airport sits at Zion's Hill, a readily identifiable point on the small island of Saba, with the high volcanic terrain of the interior providing a further landmark for orientation on approach.
The idea of an airport on Saba is credited to Remy de Haenen, who had already made seaplane landings off Fort Bay from 1946 and who identified the site, then known as Flat Point, after surveying the island by air. He made the first aircraft landing on Saba on 9 February 1959, watched by nearly the whole population, but was subsequently barred from landing again, and the island went without flights for several years. The airport became a political issue ahead of the 1962 Netherlands Antilles elections, with politicians Claude Wathey and Juancho Irausquin backing its construction; Irausquin, who had pledged to seek funding after a frightening sea voyage to Saba in 1960, died before the airport opened, and his widow cut the ribbon at the ceremony on 18 September 1963. Construction was carried out by a company owned by Chester Wathey and Jacques Deldevert, and during the works, on 22 March 1962, three helicopters from the Dutch carrier HNLMS Karel Doorman became only the second aircraft to land on the island. A twin-engined Piper PA-23 Apache flown by George Greaux made the first landing on the newly asphalted runway on 1 February 1963, and the airport formally opened for service on 24 July that year. Greaux and other investors had already founded Windward Islands Airways (Winair) in 1961 to serve the route. Early services were limited by the need for suitable STOL aircraft, and the airport lay unused for six months in 1965 before Winair introduced a Dornier Do 28 and then, from 1965, the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, which has remained the mainstay of Saba services ever since. Hurricane Georges destroyed the terminal building in 1998; a replacement, funded by the Dutch government, was dedicated to Remy de Haenen on 6 December 2002, and displays the propeller from his pioneering 1959 landing.
The airport remains Saba's only air link, served by Winair's DHC-6 Twin Otters and similar STOL types, with Britten-Norman BN-2 Islanders and helicopters also making use of the field. Jet aircraft cannot operate here because of the short runway. A small ramp and terminal stand on the south-west side of the runway, with a dedicated helipad, and the terminal houses Winair's offices, immigration and security functions, and an advisory tower. There is no aviation fuel available on the island. Fire cover was strengthened in December 2023 with the opening of a new, purpose-built fire station on the airport grounds, replacing older facilities previously housed within the terminal. Prior permission is required for visiting flights.