✈️ 70% of St. Maarten Business Aviation Traffic Comprises Inter-Island Turboprops — "Surge" Figures Carry Serious Misinterpretation Risk
Avi-Go data shows that TNCM (St. Maarten Princess Juliana Airport) recorded a total of 1,277 business aviation movements in May 2026, averaging 41.2 movements per day — figures that appear impressive on the surface. However, the aircraft type breakdown completely undermines this "boom" narrative. The DHC-6 Twin Otter alone accounted for 896 movements during the month, representing 70.2% of total traffic, while true jet business aircraft (GIV-SP, CRJ-200, Challenger 350, Global 6000) each recorded only 14 to 18 movements for the month. Looking at origin points, the top three sources were all neighboring Caribbean islands: Saint-Barthélemy with 289 movements, Saba with 86, and Sint Eustatius with 65 — together accounting for approximately 65% of total traffic. The 702% year-over-year surge that previously drew attention is, in essence, the result of intensive inter-island turboprop shuttle operations, and bears no relation to demand in the traditional jet business aviation market.
Impact: For business aviation brokers and market analysts, directly citing TNCM's high traffic figures without disaggregating by aircraft type will significantly overstate the actual health of the Caribbean jet charter market, leading to flawed capacity deployment or pricing decisions.
Recommendation: When assessing the Caribbean market, brokers should immediately establish a traffic filtering mechanism segmented by aircraft type, tracking inter-island turboprop shuttles and jet business aviation demand as separate categories. Prior to the peak season in Q3 2026, it is advisable to re-examine the aircraft type composition within historical data for this region in order to establish an accurate baseline for true jet demand.