Paramaribo Zanderij – RNL airports

Luchthaven Zanderij

Paramaribo Zanderij Airport

Paramaribo is the capital and largest city of Suriname. It was the location of the first Dutch settlement, a trading post established by Nicolaes Baliestel and Dirck Claeszoon van Sanen in 1613. The Treaty of Breda in 1667 confirmed Paramaribo as the leading town of the now Dutch colony of Suriname. The town was also renamed New Middelburg but the name did not catch on with the inhabitants.

History

Zandery was a Pan American World Airways (PAA) stop prior to World War II. It started mail flights with Sikorsky S-38 amphibians from Miami to Paramaribo in 1928. The first trans-atlantic crossing from Amsterdam to Curaçao happened with a KLM tri-motor Fokker F.XVII (Snip). The route was from Amsterdam via Marseille, Alicante, Casablanca, Cabo Verde, Paramaribo and Caracas. The Snip landed at Zanderij Field on 20 December 1934, after a first trans-Atlantic crossing of 3600 km, dubbed “the Christmas Mail-flight”, directly from Porto Praia. However, the flight did not inaugurate a regular KLM trans-Atlantic service.