TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Question regarding Airport departure

Now that the airport renovation has been completed I have seen a lot of post regarding the new arrival/immigration system. I can't seem to find anything current regarding departure information.

My question is, I will be dropping my brother and sister-in-law off at the airport on Saturday March 8th. They have a Delta flight that departs at 1:40pm. They will be checking baggage.

They really don't want to get to the airport too early. (My brother travels a great deal for work if that makes any difference)

Thank you, always appreciate the insight of experienced SXM travelers.

We arrived about 2 hours before our departure and we were just fine on a Saturday.

The official answer is 3 hours, and that's what the airlines advise. Given the number of posts we see where people say what a nightmare the airport happened to be on a given day, or the traffic getting to the airport was terrible, etc., it just makes it difficult to try to purposely cut it close. So I always estimate a reasonable drive time to the airport (factoring in if I need to return a car) and aim to be there 3 hours ahead. If the traffic or airport is abnormally bad, it gives me a buffer and I have some wiggle room. 9 times out of 10 I don't need all the time, but every now and then I'm glad I have it. Better to have to kill an additional hour at the airport than be all stressed and end up a minute late.

As a former/recovering business traveler, I understand not wanting to be sitting at the airport for extra time, especially on vacation. But there is a big difference between cutting it close at a major US airport and cutting it close at SXM (or any other island airport). If you miss your flight there are not a lot of other options or perhaps no other options to get home that day (or worse). I always target the 2.5 to 3 hours at SXM. Especially now that renovations are complete and hanging out is relatively comfortable.

"I always target the 2.5 to 3 hours at SXM. Especially now that renovations are complete and hanging out is relatively comfortable."
Exactly.

We were there back in November and the passport scanners were very slow, the line was really long!! Three hours is the number i'd go by!!! Better to be early than to miss the flight!! PJIA did a nice job of rebuilding the departure with shops and places to eat and drink.

If the airlines would enforce or at least remind passengers that they have to fill out the entry form online that would cut the wait at the kiosks SIGNIFICANTLY...

Frankly, when I was departing there were still not enough chairs to sit.

It may be nicer than before but considering the timeframe, the delays, the still lack of seating, continued equipment malfunctions and likely corruption associated with the rebuild, I think it has been an abject failure overall.

To answer the time question, when I departed in March 2024, I needed 2+ hours. When I departed in August 2024, an hour would have been sufficient. Neither departure day was a weekend.

boucharda--are you talking about departing? I wasn't aware there was something to fill out online to depart?

As far as I know there isn't anything to fill out on departure. He was probably confusing arrival with departure.

OK, that's what I thought, but was wondering if I missed something.

OOPS...my bad. Yes I was referring to arrivals...sorry

I feel like someone needs to stick up for the airport as it always seems to be getting bashed.

It is without a doubt much better and I will say its very efficient especially when departing, the Passport scanners are very quick, most people are only taking 15-30mins after dropping luggage off until inside departures hall. It seems like a lot of people here don't travel internationally because that is quite good and its very modern. With all due respect your March 2024 is not longer applicable to how the airport is running now.

The seating complain was due to someone leaving Saturday and weather delaying flights back in the US/Canada making the busiest departure day even worse since excess people are waiting. Would it be reasonable for this airport to have seats for more than max capacity when it occurs a few times a year on Saturday/Sundays only? There is adequate seating for 99% of the time and tons of new bars and restaurants where you can pay for a drink and take a seat if needed.

Arrivals again depends on people filling out the Entry Form correctly, sorry just too many complaints about this stuff.

Well said.

And you are entitled to your opinion and thank you for it. I still believe the airport reconstruction, especially the timeframe, has been a fiasco.

Arrivals also depend on the day of the week, the number of planes arriving within a specific period, the functioning of arrival equipment and luggage distribution with the arrival form just being a small part of it. From the comments of people having issues filling out the form, it is not always a matter of filling it out correctly but a matter of getting it filled out and accepted.

erb, as ruralcarrier said, you are entitled to your opinion as I am to mine.

I have flown out of that airport twice now where there were insufficient seats for people waiting. The last time was a lot of people being delayed, yes. But the time before that that was not so. People were sitting on the floor waiting for the flight!
In my opinion it is a HUGE oversight on the part of the airport reconstruction to not allow for when there are delays.

Got it, I had a pleasant experience especially when departing, sometimes that isn't reported enough I guess. Sorry about your experiences.

You shouldn't have to apologize for reporting having a noneventful departure experience. Good that yours was good.

If you haven't printed your boarding pass go early.

Since you travel a lot for business perhaps you have access to the Lounge. That would make the wait more tolarable.

Some one noted not enough seats. Back in late 70's you stood in a small unairconditioned room. Now THAT was uncomfortable and no-one wanted to arrive too early.