Based on statistics collected and reported by Bonaire International Airport (BIA) for passenger arrivals and departures YTD June 2016, the Tourism Corporation Bonaire announces an 8.0 % year-over-year growth in international air arrivals from our key source markets of Europe and North America.
Driven by marketplace demand and capacity increases by our airline partners Delta and TUI Fly, arrivals have grown to 75,174 for the first six months this year, up from 69,596 passengers recorded for the same period last year.
Growth of arrivals from the European market increased by 10.7% as compared to last year, primarily driven by a seat capacity increase of 50 % on TUI Fly.
Arrivals from the US market grew at a rate of 4.4 % as compared to last year. This is with a 29% capacity decrease on United and a concurrent 48% capacity increase on Delta.
Maurice Adriaens, Director of the Tourism Corporation Bonaire noted, “We are pleased to see the growth in arrivals from Europe and North America in the first half of the year, but want to ensure that the increases can be sustained into 2017. While loads from Europe continue to look strong, we see a seasonal airline capacity decreases and soft shoulder bookings in North America, particularly the New York metro area. To that end, a multi-faceted, public-private sector travel agent campaign was recently initiated in New Jersey to increase local boarding Newark traffic.” He continued, “The ability to quickly pivot and make adjustments to our marketing efforts when needed is a testament to the collaboration with BIA, our airline partners and our on island stakeholders.”
Statistics on connecting traffic via Aruba and Curacao from Latin America, North America and Europe are not available, as those visitors arrive on point-to- point tickets via our sister islands, and are thus recorded as domestic arrivals. YTD June, 2016, domestic arrivals have declined by 5.1% as compared to the same period last year.
