After the creation of the Statute of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Royal Netherlands Army was entrusted with the defence of Suriname, while the defence of the Netherlands Antilles was the responsibility of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The army set up a separate Netherlands Armed Forces in Suriname. Upon independence in 1975, this force was turned into the Surinamese Armed Forces. On February 25, 1980, a group of 15 non-commissioned officers and one junior officer, under the leadership of sergeant major Dési Bouterse, staged a coup d'état and overthrew the Government. Subsequently, the SKM was rebranded as the National Army.
The Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander is a British light utility aircraft and regional airliner designed and originally manufactured by Britten-Norman of the United Kingdom. Still in production, the Islander is one of the best-selling commercial aircraft types produced in Europe. Although designed in the 1960s, over 750 are still in service with commercial operators around the world. The aircraft is a light transport with over 30 military aviation operators around the world.
Copenhagen AirTaxi (CAT) is an aviation company and flight school based in Roskilde, Denmark. It provide a range of services, including operating regularly scheduled flights from Copenhagen Airport, Roskilde to the Danish islands of Anholt and Læsø; managing the airfield on Anholt, and is also a major airtaxi operator in Denmark, operating from EKRK. CAT is an experienced flight school with flight training leading to a private and commercial pilots license. With large modern facilities based in Roskilde, the school trains the future generation of professional pilots in Denmark. CAT also has a large maintenance facility specialized in General Aviation aircraft.
Surinam Airways, also known by its initials SLM, is the flag carrier of Suriname, based in Paramaribo. It operates regional and long-haul scheduled passenger services. Its hub is at Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (Zanderij). Surinam Airways is wholly owned by the Government of Suriname.
Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport, also known as Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport, and locally referred to simply as JAP, is an airport located in the town of Zanderij and hub for airline carrier Surinam Airways, 45 kilometres (28 mi) south of Paramaribo. It is the larger of Suriname's two international airports, the other being Zorg en Hoop with scheduled flights to Guyana, and is operated by Airport Management, Ltd./ NV Luchthavenbeheer.
Lelydorp is the capital city of Wanica District, located in Suriname. With a population of 18,663 (2012), it is the second largest city in Suriname, after Paramaribo.
Fly My Sky was a small airline based in Auckland, New Zealand. It operated between Auckland, Matamata and Great Barrier Island. The airline went into liquidation at the end of June 2021. The airline evolved out of the now also defunct Mountain Air.
Fjellfly was a Norwegian airline which operated between 1954 and 1972. The airline was based at Skien Airport, Geiteryggen and served a diverse range of general aviation activities and a limited scheduled services. Major undertakings included distribution of the newspaper Dagbladet, flying tourists into mountainous areas such as Hardangervidda and crop dusted forest areas. A scheduled service was introduced from Skien to Oslo Airport, Fornebu in 1963, and was extended to Sandefjord Airport, Torp and Hamar Airport, Stafsberg four years later. At its peak in 1965, the airline had a fleet of fourteen aircraft.
Blue Wing Airlines n.v. is an airline with its head office on the grounds of Zorg en Hoop Airport in Paramaribo, Suriname. The airline started operations in January 2002 and operates charter and scheduled services from Paramaribo to destinations in the interior of Suriname, Guyana, Brazil, Venezuela and the Caribbean area. Its main base is Zorg en Hoop Airport. The airline is on the list of air carriers banned in the EU for safety violations. They were temporarily removed from the list on 28 November 2007 after implementing a corrective action plan ordered by the EU Transportation Commission. However, on 6 July 2010, the airline was banned again from European and French territory airspace as a result of three accidents involving Blue Wing Airlines: one on 3 April 2008 with 19 fatalities, another accident on 15 October 2009 that led to four unspecified injuries, and a third incident on 15 May 2010 with 8 fatalities. As of 2023, Blue Wing Airlines was banned from operating within the European Union.
Rudi Kappel Airstrip is located 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) south of the Tafelberg tepui in Suriname. It was constructed as part of Operation Grasshopper. It used to be named Tafelberg Airstrip, but was renamed Rudi Kappel Airstrip, after the co-pilot of a flight that crashed near Vincent Fayks Airport on 6 October 1959.
Käyser Airstrip, also Käyser Jan Gouka Airstrip is near the Käyser Mountains range in Sipaliwini District, Suriname. It was constructed as part of Operation Grasshopper and has one long grass runway. Fishing and wildlife tours are prime users of the airstrip.
Major Henk Fernandes Airport, also known as Nieuw Nickerie Airport, is near Nieuw Nickerie, the capital city of the Nickerie district in Suriname. This is one of the oldest airports in Suriname, in use since 1953, when the Piper Cub (PZ-NAC) of Kappel-van Eyck named "Colibri" landed there from Zorg en Hoop Airport.
Caricom Airways, which stands for Caribbean Commuter Airways, was a regional airline from the Caribbean, with the headquarters of the company at Paramaribo, Suriname. From the down-town Zorg en Hoop Airport in Suriname, Caricom Airways mainly flew charter flights to various destinations in the interior of Suriname, the Caribbean and Northern Brazil.
Gum Air is a Surinamese airline based in Paramaribo, Suriname. Gum Air cooperates with Trans Guyana Airways to provide daily flights between Zorg en Hoop Airport in Paramaribo, Suriname and Ogle Airport in Georgetown, Guyana.
Oelemari Airstrip is an airstrip located near the Oelemari River in Suriname. This small grass airstrip was constructed as part of the Operation Grasshopper project in Suriname.
Avanavero Airstrip, near Avanavero, Suriname. It was one of the airstrips constructed in the aftermath of Operation Grasshopper.
The Suriname Air Force is the air component of the Military of Suriname. All aircraft of the Suriname Air Force undertake border patrols, utility transport, and search and rescue missions from Zorg en Hoop Airport, the Air Force's main base. Aircraft are occasionally transferred to other air bases in the nation, which include Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport, Major Fernandes Airfield, Albina Airstrip, and Moengo Airstrip. The head of the Suriname Air Force is the Commander of the Air Force, currently Lieutenant Colonel Marven van Huisduinen, who took over the role in March 2019 from former Commander Robert Kartodikromo. The Air Force is further split into several wings, including the Helicopter Wing, the current Commander of which being Captain John-Marc Arron.
The history of Suriname during World War II was mainly focused on protecting the bauxite industry and guarding the borders with French Guiana which was part of Vichy France. From November 1941 onwards, 2,000 American troops were stationed in Suriname who transformed Airstrip Zanderij into a major airport, and constructed defensive works. No actual battles took place in Suriname. There was a political crisis in 1943, because Governor Johannes Kielstra used the state of emergency to imprison political opponents.
Ronald "Rudi" Elwin Kappel was a Surinamese pilot. He was one of the founders of Luchtvaartbedrijf Kappel-Van Eyck which is now called Surinam Airways, the first airline in Suriname. He also helped construct the Zorg en Hoop Airport, and the Rudi Kappel Airstrip. Kappel died in an air crash near Paloemeu.
