Princess Juliana airport in St Maarten devastated by Hurricane Irma

SHOCKING pictures have emerged of this famous airport after it was devastated by winds of close to 300km/h as Hurricane Irma thrashed the Caribbean.

AN AIRPORT famous for its spectacular plane landings has been destroyed by strong winds as Hurricane Irma moves across the Caribbean.

Pictures have emerged of a flattened Princess Juliana International Airport after winds of up to 297km/h tore through St Martin, a divided island in the Caribbean split between French and Dutch rule.

The airport sits remarkably close to Maho beach in Dutch-controlled Sint Maarten, which has become a popular site for beachgoers to watch planes swoop perilously close to their heads while coming in for landing.

Irma caused huge rocks to smash into planes, at least one of the jet bridges to collapse and sand and debris from Maho beach to be swept onto the runway.

Sand was blown onto the tarmac. Picture: bondtehond/Twitter

Inside the terminal. Picture: bondtehond/Twitter

Pictures in the aftermath of the hurricane also showed severe damage to the airport terminal. Inside the airport, the check-in hall had flooded.

Princess Juliana International airport suspended all operations on Tuesday, local time, as Irma approached the island.

“We regret any inconvenience this will cause, but must stress that the safety and security of all is priority number one at SXM Airport,” the airport’s chief operating officer Michel Hyman said.

Strong winds caused damage at Princess Juliana International Airport. Picture: bondtehond/Twitter

The nation of St Martin, which is close to Anguilla in the Caribbean, is divided between the Dutch territory of Sint Maarten and the French territory of Saint-Martin.

At least six people have been killed in the French part of the island at the time of publication.

Another person has been killed in the popular tourist island of St Barts, France said.

“The situation in St Martin and St Barts is dramatic — there is no drinking water, electricity, public buildings are unusable, houses have been destroyed,” Guadeloupe prefect Eric Maire said.

Inside the airport. Picture: bondtehond/Twitter

“We estimate that some 60, 70 per cent of the houses have been destroyed in St Martin.”

Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron warned the toll would be “harsh and cruel” and that damage on the two islands was “considerable.”

“A national reconstruction plan will be implemented as soon as possible,” Macron said.

Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm, has roared through Caribbean islands with historic 297km/h winds on its way to a possible devastating hit on Florida.

This image obtained from the NASA’s GOES Project shows Hurricane Irma on September 4 as a hurricane watch went into effect for Antigua, Barbuda, Anguilla, Montserrat, St Kitts, Nevis, St Eustatius, and Sint Maarten and St Barthelemy. Picture: AFP/NASA/GOES Project/HO

Irma, the strongest Atlantic Ocean hurricane ever measured, destroyed homes and flooded streets across a chain of small islands in the northern Caribbean, passing directly over Barbuda and leaving the island of some 1700 people cut off from communication.

It is expected to reach Florida by the weekend.

As the state braces for the hurricane to hit, American Airlines said it would start shutting down operations in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Sarasota and West Palm Beach by Friday afternoon and cancel flights through the weekend.

St Maarten is famous for the low-flying planes arriving at Princess Juliana International Airport and is a major tourist destination. Picture: Getty Images

JetBlue Airways said it had cancelled about 130 flights. American, JetBlue, United and Delta offered waivers letting customers change travel plans to Florida and the Caribbean without the usual charges for changing a ticket.

Earlier, JetBlue, American Airlines and Delta were praised for reducing or capping the price of tickets so people could flee Florida before Irma hit.

The three airlines said price caps would be in effect until September 13.

St Maarten is lashed by Hurricane Irma. Picture: bondtehond/Twitter

Delta had previously been accused on social media of price hiking after a passenger tweeted she was trying to purchase a ticket from Miami to Phoenix when she stumbled upon a 600 per cent increase in ticket prices and accused the airline of trying to capitalise on the disaster, Fox News reported.

Delta later said that was due to a technical error that had since been resolved, but not before a huge swell of public outrage erupted on social media against the airline, with comedian Chelsea Handler calling for a Delta boycott.

— with AFP.