AIR CONNECTIONS The main airport in Suriname is Johan Adolf Pengel International, located about 45 km south of Paramaribo near the town of Zanderij. The airport is run by the government-owned company NV Luchthavenbeheer (Airport Management Ltd) and provides regular passenger and cargo services to and from the United States and Europe. Zanderij Airport was a Pan American World Airways stop before the Second World War; but when the Netherlands fell to the Nazis, it fulfilled a vital role in the Allied war effort as a transport base sending supplies and, later, personnel across the South Atlantic. It was closed as a military airfield in 1946 and became a civil airport once again. Ten airlines operate out of Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport with links to Aruba, Bonaire, Brazil, Cape Verde Islands, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Guyana, the Netherlands, St Maarten (Netherlands Antilles), Trinidad, Venezuela and the USA. The airport is also the hub for Suriname’s own airline, Surinam Airways, with passenger and cargo services to eight destinations. Elsewhere in Suriname there are 58 airfields, many of which are just grass strips serving the interior. Zorg en Hoop Airport in Paramaribo provides many local connections. All airfields apart from Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport are operated by the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), a subsidiary of the Ministry of Transport, Communications & Tourism. Investment is going ahead to transform the Johan Adolf Pengel International into one of the most modern in the Caribbean region, thus helping to give visitors an excellent first impression of Suriname. Significant developments now under way include improvements to the runway and terminals, new arrival and departure halls and more facilities including banking services. There will also be more airport service companies.
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