Princess Juliana Airport, St. Maarten, is famous for its close proximity to the beach

Officials at Princess Juliana Airport in St. Maarten have unveiled plans to launch a major expansion and upgrade.

Improvements at the Caribbean airport will include runway rehabilitation, construction of new taxiways, expansion of aprons to provide additional parking for aircraft and the acquisition of nearby property for future expansion.

To finance the project, government and airport officials refinanced a 2004 bond issue of $118 million.
Following the deal, the total available for the new project to $132 million.

The first priority is resurfacing of the runway, which is expected to start next month and be completed by August.

The entire project will be done over a three-year period.