Many people have applied, even though there was no open recruitment process for the job. A foreign company with an office in Miami interviewed the candidates, either approached by Schiphol Group or they themselves applied. In the end, there are four candidates: one from Aruba and three Europeans. If everything goes well, Royal Schiphol Group will meet with the Supervisory Board of Aruba Airport Authority this Friday to decide who will get the director position. However, the meeting seems to be postponed to next week.
Joost Meijs, who took the director position at AUA Airport back in 2019, announced his retirement in February this year. His goodbye party is scheduled for June. Therefore, a decision on his replacement is imminent. This comes as the contract to operate our airport between Royal Schiphol Group and the Government of Aruba is due to expire in a few months. This is an opportune moment to address the director position and potential contract extension.
Do We Need Royal Schiphol Group?
Opinions are mixed. Some believe we don’t need them anymore because the company is financially stable, our relations with airlines are good, and the demand for Aruba remains high. There’s also a question of whether we should keep paying a Dutch company when we have our own professionals who are willing and able to do the job. However, others worry that if the government takes over, politics will interfere with the company’s operations.
Currently, Royal Schiphol Group’s expertise is relied upon in various areas, such as the ongoing construction. Financing has also been easier and somewhat contingent on Royal Schiphol Group continuing to operate the company. Removing them might make lenders nervous.
Should the Deal Change?
There are various options on the table. While Minister Dangui Oduber has reservations about continuing the contract as is, this does not necessarily mean that he wants to end the relationship with Royal Schiphol Group entirely. He thinks the agreement could be adapted so that Aruba takes a more prominent role in managing the company while also still utilizing the Royal Schiphol Group for specific affairs. Whether Royal Schiphol Group will accept this is unknown, especially since the owner of Royal Schiphol Group, the Dutch government, is also currently involved in negotiations with Aruba over other issues.
Serious Negotiations
Negotiations are not going smoothly. Royal Schiphol Group is making several demands that the Government of Aruba is unwilling to accept. For example, after their 20 years of working together, they still have not complied with the requirement to appoint a local director. Every time, they bring in a foreigner to manage the company for us, while the contract states they must train someone for the role.
In the past, they sent executives to Schiphol in the Netherlands for training, but ultimately, none were appointed as director. Royal Schiphol Group also wants to double their fee from 2.5 million to 5 million annually, arguing that this is the rate they charge at other airports they manage. They also want a seat on the Supervisory Board of the company, a request that the Government of Aruba has consistently denied.
History of Conflicts
In the past, there was Peter Steinmetz, who had conflicts with Minister Otmar Oduber, leading to the ultimatum that either Steinmetz or the entire Schiphol Group has to go. These contract renewal negotiations were tough, and even with changes in government, the issues have persisted. The problem isn’t necessarily with Royal Schiphol Group but with the directors’ attitudes. For two years, Minister Dangui Oduber has made it clear that Royal Schiphol Group can stay, but Joost Meijs has got to go. It’s uncertain if Meijs chose to leave or realized he couldn’t stay while Dangui Oduber is minister.
Joost Meijs’ Shortcomings
Minister Dangui Oduber expressed his frustration and disappointment with Joost Meijs’ questionable management two years ago. Meijs laid off 75 employees, paid them a total of 13 million florins to leave, and is now filling the vacancies again without following proper human resources protocols. Additionally, he gave the government wrong advice, predicting the airport would not recover its passenger numbers until 2025, when in 2022, the levels almost matched those of 2019 already.
Costs of Royal Schiphol Group
The relationship between Royal Schiphol Group and the Government of Aruba comes at a cost. Last year, they paid approximately 6.7 million florins, including consultancy fees, the director’s salary, and all other benefits. Putting this into perspective, Royal Schiphol Group charges about half of the total dividend.
Airport Operations
Last year, Queen Beatrix International Airport had 238 employees and handled a total of 2,888,695 passengers, significantly more than the 2,570,108 passengers in 2022. In total, they served 26 different airlines connecting us to 32 cities with 30 non-stop flights. The working relationship between Aruba Airport Authority N.V. and Royal Schiphol Group began in April 2004, under the management of the former Minister of Tourism, Eddie Briesen. It was intended to be a short-term arrangement, but successive AVP and MEP governments have continued to renew the contract with the Dutch company.
Potential Candidate for Managing Aruba Airport
When the minister mentions starting deliberations with Schiphol Group to appoint a local as the company head, it suggests there is probably already a candidate in mind. For the past 25 years, even before the deal with Schiphol Group, Jurgen Benschop has held various interim director positions and later became Chief Operations Officer. He never got the opportunity to assume the director role permanently, although he has temporarily filled the position on several occasions.
Schiphol Group’s Regional Ambitions
One of the ongoing discussions between the Government of Aruba and Schiphol Group is their interest in taking over the airports in Bonaire and Curaçao. The contract with the Government of Aruba stipulates that they cannot manage any airport in our region that could compete with our island. They’ve already taken over St. Maarten Airport to manage its reconstruction and develop a professional organization with a good business structure. Despite being a sister island, they are still a competitor, and Aruba cannot stand by and watch as Schiphol Group redirects passengers from Aruba to other islands.
Airport Supervision
The government usually has five members on the Supervisory Board of Aruba Airport Authority to oversee the director and the general management of the company. Currently, there are four members on the Supervisory Board, consisting of Gerald Tsu (president), Hubert Dirks (Compra NV), Sven Faarup (Lawyer), and Alfredo Nicolaas (SETAR).
About Royal Schiphol Group
Royal Schiphol Group was established in the Netherlands in 1916, with its main office at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. In October 2008, the directors of Aéroports de Paris and Schiphol Group agreed to take an 8% stake in each other’s companies, creating the world’s largest airport management group.
Schiphol Group owns 100% of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Rotterdam The Hague Airport, and Lelystad Airport. They also own 51% of Eindhoven Airport and 19% of Brisbane Airport. Apart from Queen Beatrix International Airport, Schiphol Group operates Terminal 4 of JFK Airport in New York, Incheon International Airport in South Korea, Brisbane Airport in Australia, and Hong Kong International Airport in China.
Aruba Airport Authority N.V., working closely with Schiphol Group, manages a modern and efficient airport, consisting of three different buildings that together form the terminal. Our Airport has 66 ticket counters, airline offices, and a shopping center for passengers traveling to the United States and other destinations. We are one of the few countries in the world with the presence of the U.S. C.B.P facility, including U.S. Immigration and Customs, on our island, to facilitate passengers and pre-clear flights before they arrive in the United States.
