News & Media

Bids received for Passenger Board Bridges for the Sint Maarten Airport Terminal Reconstruction Project

Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten (January 31, 2022) - Princess Juliana International Airport Operating Company (PJIAE N.V.) completed another critical milestone for the supply of Passenger Boarding Bridges, a major item for the Sint Maarten Airport Terminal Reconstruction Project. As standard protocol, a bid opening committee convened at the Project Management Unit site office at the Airport to procedurally open the electronic bids on January 25, 2022, at 3:00 pm.

There is considerable interest from specialized companies, resulting in the submission of three (3) bids ranging from US$ 2.8 M to US$ 4.4 M.

The announced bidders included:

-JV Shenzhen CIMC-Tianda Airport Support Ltd. & CIMC-TIANDA Netherlands Cooperatief U.A. (out of China)
-SMAAK JV (Sint Maarten ADELTE Anton Konstruktie) a Joint Venture between ADELTE Airport Technologies S.L.U. and Anton Air Support B.V. (out of Spain/The Netherlands)
-TK Airport Solutions S.A. (out of Spain)

The process is being followed according to the World Bank’s procurement regulations. In this instance, bidders were required to submit their bids via email to the PJIAE’s Project Management Unit in an encrypted PDF file on or before the bid closing deadline of 2:00 pm on January 25, 2022. Meanwhile, the passwords to unlock the encrypted bids were electronically submitted separately to Baker Tilly, as the independent Auditor. Baker Tilly was contracted to further ensure the integrity and compliance within the guidelines of the electronic bidding process.

The Sint Maarten Airport Terminal Reconstruction Project consists of eight (8) major packages which include a mix of one (1) Works Package and seven (7) Equipment Packages. These are all planned out for separate bidding. The first and largest is the Main Works Package which has since commenced back in October 2021. This was followed by the Equipment Package bid for the supply of the Baggage Handling System (opened on January 11, 2022), and now this Equipment Package bid for the supply of Passenger Boarding Bridges. In 2017, the bridges were damaged during Hurricane Irma and had to be demolished. These will be replaced will with four (4) new Passenger Boarding Bridges, which will enhance the passenger's boarding process and overall passenger experience. The new situation will also include an upgrade with added escalators at each gate, elevators, and stairs, for smooth boarding and improved operational flow. Based on the project’s timeline, the contract will be awarded in March 2022, while the completion of the project remains for 2023.

Following the devastating hurricane season on Sint Maarten in 2017, the PJIAE later begun with the reconstruction project. Funding for the reconstruction was attained by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and World bank via lending agreements from the Government of Sint Maarten to the PJIAE N.V. Meanwhile, the handling and disbursement of the loans are administered by the National Recovery Program Bureau (NRPB) on behalf of the Government.

For detailed information regarding the Sint Maarten Airport Terminal Reconstruction Project, online users may visit the SXM Airport’s website to access the “construction” tab at www.sxmairport.com