St Barths is 32 km from St Maarten, and for most people flying in from North America or Europe this is the last leg: a jet lands at Princess Juliana and a small turboprop takes you across the channel. The runway at St Barths is 646 m long, so no jet lands there at all. The aircraft is a small turboprop of the Caravan, Twin Otter or PC-12 class, flown by a crew with the special approval the airport requires, or a helicopter on request. We time the hop to your jet's arrival at SXM so the connection is one itinerary rather than two bookings.
| Airport | IATA / ICAO | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Princess Juliana International, St Maarten | SXM / TNCM | departure · 32 km to SBH | St Maarten's main airport and the usual jet gateway for St Barths. Runway 10/28, 2,300 m. |
| St Barths, Gustaf III | SBH / TFFJ | arrival | Runway 10/28 of 646 m, concrete. Jets do not land here: only small turboprops of the Caravan, Twin Otter or PC-12 class, flown by crews holding the special approval St Barths requires. |
| Princess Juliana International, St Maarten | SXM / TNCM | jet gateway · 32 km from SBH | Runway 10/28, 2,300 m. The airport where jets land for St Barths, if the party needs a jet for the longer part of the trip. |
Source: OurAirports (airports and runways, retrieved 3 October 2026), great-circle. Runway length at St Barths and at Tortola also checked against a second published source.
| Class | Example | St Barths runway, 646 m | Estimated time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small turboprop | Caravan, Twin Otter, PC-12 class | Yes, with a crew holding the St Barths approval | longer than 23 min |
| Light jet | Phenom 300 | No: jets do not land at St Barths | – |
| Midsize and larger jets | Citation XLS+, Challenger 605 | No | – |
The 23 min figure for 32 km is our jet-speed model; a turboprop takes longer, and the quote shows the planned schedule.
Caravan, Twin Otter or PC-12 class, flown by a crew with the special approval St Barths requires. Sized to a small party; tell us the luggage with the headcount.
Ask for options ›Over 32 km a helicopter is a real alternative to the turboprop. Offered in writing against your date; no helicopter price is published here.
Helicopters ›When the party or the luggage needs a jet, the jet lands at St Maarten (SXM) and the last 32 km is a separate hop, booked with it.
Miami to St Barths ›We do not print a figure here. The section's prices come from charter brokers' published prices for a specific city pair, and we found none for this hop that we would reprint. It is also a turboprop or helicopter flight, which has nothing in common with the jet rates published elsewhere. Every quote we send is in US dollars, for the whole aircraft, and the price includes our service fee.
| When | What happens | Our advice |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-December to early January | The island's busiest weeks, when the small aircraft that can use St Barths are in short supply. | Book the hop together with the jet into SXM, as early as you can. |
| Daylight | Connections at St Maarten are planned around daylight on the short St Barths runway. | Tell us your jet's arrival time first; we build the hop around it. |
Your dates and group size for St Barths.