Grand Case–Espérance Airport

Not to be confused with Esperance Airport.

L'Espérance Airport (IATA: SFG, ICAO: TFFG), also known as Grand Case Airport (French: Aérodrome de Grand-Case Espérance), is a public use airport located in Grand Case, on the French side of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin. The airport is mainly used for flights by regional passenger aircraft (ATR) flying to Guadeloupe and Saint Barth, as well as used by private aircraft. It is the second and smaller airport of Saint Maarten, after Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) which is located on the Dutch side of the island.

L'Espérance Airport Grand Case Airport Aéroport de Grand-Case l'Espérance
Passengers deboard an Air Caraïbes ATR 72 at L'Espérance Airport (2015)
IATA: SFG ICAO: TFFG
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Collectivité de Saint Martin
Operator	EDEIS
Serves	Saint-Martin
Location	Grand Case
Elevation AMSL	20 ft / 6 m
Coordinates	18°06′02″N 063°02′56″W
Website	saintmartin-airport.com
Map
TFFG Location in Saint-Martin
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 12/30 1,200 3,937 Asphalt
Statistics (2018)
Passengers 192,285
Sources: French AIP, IATA, Aeroport.fr SkyVector

Grand Case airport is managed by EDEIS, a major player in airport operations and engineering in France where it manages 18 airports.

In 2017, the renovation of the airport was completed that included a modernized terminal building, fire station upgrade, extended parking apron, and new control tower. In 2018 a new hangar for line maintenance purposes was completed.

The airport targets more than 200,000 passengers movements a year.

Tower

The air traffic control tower at Princess Juliana Airport on the Dutch side of St. Maarten has two radar systems at their disposal with a range of 50 nautical miles (93 km; 58 mi) and 250 NM (460 km; 290 mi). PJIA air traffic control manages 4,000 sq nmi (14,000 km²; 5,300 sq mi) of airspace around the airport. Besides providing approach, tower and ground control at PJIA, Juliana air traffic services also provides approach control for Grand Case airport.

Runway and facilities

Incoming aircraft approach the island on short final for runway 12 over the bay of Grand-Case, with a corresponding view. When wind direction changes, which is common, incoming airplanes approach the island on short final for runway 30, in the opposite direction.

Larger aircraft, such as the ATR 72-500, powerback after lining up on the runway for departure, due to the short runway.

The regional Espérance Airport at Grand Case allows the quickest transfers for commercial inter-island aircraft and for private aircraft. Operators are required to send a flight request to EDEIS FBO SERVICE.

Airlines and destinations

The following commercial airlines provide scheduled passenger service:

Airlines	Destinations
Air Antilles	Pointe-à-Pitre
Air Caraïbes	Pointe-à-Pitre
St Barth Commuter	Saint Barthélemy Charter: Dominica–Canefield
Trans Anguilla Airways	Charter: Anguilla
West Indies Helicopters	Charter: Saint Barthélemy, Pointe-à-Pitre, Anguilla

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at SFG airport. See Wikidata query.

Joint border control with the Kingdom of the Netherlands

In 1994, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and France signed the Franco-Dutch treaty on Saint Martin border controls, which allows for joint Franco-Dutch border controls on so-called "risk flights". After some delay, the treaty was ratified in November 2006 in the Netherlands, and subsequently entered into force on 1 August 2007. Though the treaty is now in force, its provisions are not yet implemented as the working group specified in the treaty is not yet installed.