The eight-square-mile, Dutch Caribbean island of St. Eustatius (Statia), northwest of St. Kitts and Nevis, recently installed a solar-powered sign at the airport carrying a message of greeting for arriving guests and a thank you to its departing visitors.

This would not be headline news in many places, but on Statia the sign represents the friendliness of the 3,500 or so Statians who live there, as well as the island’s commitment to the environment and the pride in its new airport.

Statia’s Franklyn Delano Roosevelt international airport is located on the northern part of the island and was originally named Golden Rock airport when it opened in 1946.

After 70-plus years of service, followed by damage from Hurricane Irma in 2017, a development project for a new airport began later that year.

The new airport opened in mid-2021 with four check-in desks, three airline offices, baggage and passenger screening areas, baggage claim, customs check area, a security and control room and a 44-seat waiting area.

The three-story tower functions as an operational structure for communications and flight and airside safety and commands a 360-degree view of the seas and neighboring islands.

Construction and completion of the airport and tower, helped in part by specialists brought in from the Netherlands, were heralded as a monumental achievement for the tiny island.

The solar-powered element of the airport sign reflects the island’s commitment to continuing on its path as a green, environmentally friendly destination.

Almost half of Statia’s electrical needs are met by solar power, thanks to a large-scale island electrification program begun in 2017, and that today saves approximately 4,560 tons of carbon dioxide a year.

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