Quick answer: At Curaçao International Airport (CUR), help for passengers with reduced mobility is booked through your airline, not through the airport. The operator, Curaçao Airport Partners, asks you to contact your airline or travel agent at least 48 hours before you travel, and its services list names Sanwil, a VIP Concierge partner, as the provider. For hidden disabilities the airport runs the Sunflower lanyard scheme. The terminal is not all on one level, since the departures hall is upstairs, and besides its jet bridges the airport lists two remote boarding gates.
Who does what at Hato
The 48-hour rule sits on the operator's Sunflower lanyard page: anyone needing other special assistance should go to the carrier or the agent who sold the trip, early enough for the request to be handled properly. The airline booking is therefore the step that counts, and the one to confirm in writing before you fly.
The delivery side appears on the operator's Airport Services page, a short list last edited in August 2023. It includes "Assistance for passengers with reduced mobility by Sanwil (VIP Concierge)", next to baggage storage and VIP service from the same company. No phone number, desk location or hours for Sanwil appear on the site.
Do not confuse this with CUR Exclusive. That is a premium meet-and-greet service run in-house by the operator: a personal welcome at the gate on arrival or at the terminal on departure, priority guidance through immigration, customs and security, help with bags and an escort to the pick-up area or gate. Bookings go to [email protected] and no price is published. It can suit a nervous traveller, but it is a premium product, not the assistance your airline arranges.
| Topic | What the operator publishes | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Reduced-mobility assistance | Book through the airline or agent, 48 hours ahead at minimum | Sunflower lanyard page |
| Provider | Sanwil, VIP Concierge; no contact details given | Airport Services list, edited August 2023 |
| Hidden disabilities | Sunflower lanyard through four registered foundations; no automatic fast track | Same page |
| Premium escort | CUR Exclusive meet and greet, booked by email | Assistance page and FAQ |
| Boarding pass control | A wider accessibility unit for wheelchair users is part of the expansion works | Press release of 17 May 2026 |
| Accessible toilet | A restroom for disabled persons inside the VIP Lounge | VIP Lounge page |
| Parking | 7 disabled parking spaces | CUR Factsheet 2026 |
Booking assistance with the airlines that fly to CUR
The operator's airline directory lists 23 carriers, from KLM and TUI out of the Netherlands to American, JetBlue, United, Delta and Air Canada Rouge from North America. Each sets its own request rules; the table takes seven of them from their own accessibility pages. If yours is missing, check the same points on its website before paying.
| Airline | How to request | Detail the airline publishes |
|---|---|---|
| KLM | My Trip, or call KLM no later than 48 hours before departure | Airport assistance is provided by a third party; you may board first and are asked to leave last |
| TUI | Request special assistance through TUI once your flight holiday is booked | Help from check-in to your seat and from arrival to the baggage belt; wheelchair, rollator and mobility scooter carried free |
| American Airlines | Add special assistance when booking or in your trip; you can also tell staff on the day | Wheelchair help to and from the gate, between gates and to baggage claim |
| JetBlue | Special Service Request at booking or in Manage Trips, free of charge | Jet bridge or level boarding is not available in every city; say so if you cannot use stairs |
| United | My Trips, or when booking | Onboard wheelchair on every aircraft with more than 60 seats |
| Delta | My Trips; online request form if travel is more than 7 days away | Complaint Resolution Officials at all airport locations |
| Air Canada and Rouge | Accessibility Services, two days or more before the flight | Curbside help is to be arranged with the airport |
Two lines deserve attention. American says a team member can arrange a wheelchair on the day, yet the airport asks for two days' notice, so book ahead anyway. Air Canada sends curbside requests to the airport, while the airport sends assistance requests to the airline. If you fly Air Canada and need help from the car to the counter, raise it with Air Canada Accessibility Services first, then write to the airport at [email protected] with your flight number and ask who will meet you outside.
Timing adds another reason to book early. The operator reports about 2.46 million passengers in 2025, with nearly 80 percent of operations packed into a window of roughly six hours. The whole terminal is busiest in that window, so a request logged well ahead gives the assistance team time to plan around it.
Hidden disabilities: the Sunflower lanyard at CUR
The Hidden Disabilities Sunflower scheme started at London Gatwick in 2016. CAP announced it at Curaçao in September 2020 and called CUR the first airport in the Caribbean to join. Wearing the green lanyard with its yellow sunflower, together with the badge, tells airport staff that you may need extra help, time or assistance. The operator lists autism, chronic pain, dementia and anxiety as examples, alongside learning difficulties, mental health problems and less visible mobility, speech, sight or hearing conditions.
Two limits are written into the scheme. The lanyard does not give automatic fast-track access through security or passport control. And at CUR the operator says you request it through one of the registered foundations, of which it lists four: Autism Aid Foundation, Fundashon Pro Bista, Fundashon Kontakto and De SGR-Groep. If your foundation is not on the list, or you have other questions, write to [email protected]; organisations that want to join the scheme use the same address. The launch release notes that Schiphol applies the same standards, and KLM supports the lanyard while warning that it guarantees no form of assistance.
One oddity is worth knowing. The operator's FAQ has a section headed Accessibility and passenger services with a Sunflower question, but the answer printed under it describes the nursing pod. Rely on the dedicated Sunflower page instead.
Moving through the terminal
You start in the Check-in Hall, open daily from 06:00 to midnight. After check-in you scan your boarding pass at the Boarding Pass Control Reader and go through immigration and security screening, and the check-in page sends you upstairs to the Departure Hall for more shops and restaurants. The operator's website does not describe how wheelchair users move between the two levels, so let the assistance team plan that part.
The operator also asks passengers who need additional assistance to allow extra time at check-in. Staff called Passenger Guides wear reflective Happy to Help vests, and courtesy phones are provided. The FAQ lists one in the Check-in Hall, two in the Departures Hall and phones in the outside area of the Arrivals Hall, while the check-in page places them near both entrances of the Check-in Hall.
Departures are also a building site. The Outbound Terminal Mid-Expansion Project began in May 2026; its launch release gave December 2026 as the end, while the current FAQ and Q&A say the first quarter of 2027. The promised changes include extra boarding pass barcode readers, among them a wider accessibility unit for wheelchair users and travellers who need assistance. Work zones move between phases, and CUR Terminal Guides are on hand to redirect passengers.
At security, liquid medication and special dietary items needed for the journey are exempt from the 100 ml rule but go in the tray separately, and you pass a metal detector or body scanner.
Boarding: jet bridges and remote stands
The 2026 fact sheet counts 8 boarding gates and 2 remote boarding gates, with 6 remote parking positions. In September 2025 the operator announced two new glass-walled, air-conditioned boarding bridges that replace two existing ones, due to be installed by the end of October 2025, with all current bridges to be upgraded to the new design by 2027. The operator does not say which flights use a bridge and which board from a remote stand.
That gap belongs with your airline. JetBlue says jet bridge or level access is not guaranteed in every city and asks passengers who cannot manage stairs to tell staff on arrival. Mention stairs explicitly in your request, and ask whether an aisle chair will be at the aircraft door.
Accessible toilets and the lounge
The only accessible toilet the operator names is the restroom for disabled persons in the VIP Lounge. The lounge opens daily from 08:30 to 20:30, hours the operator says are subject to change depending on flight operations, allows a maximum stay of three hours, and charges walk-in guests US$55 or US$63 depending on the time of day. Entry is first come, first served. Public restrooms elsewhere in the terminal are not described in accessibility terms, so ask your assistance agent where the nearest suitable one is before you reach the gate.
Drop-off, pick-up and parking
The fact sheet lists 503 public parking spaces and 7 disabled parking spaces. The first 15 minutes are free and the daily maximum is XCG 21.50. The Departures drop-off zone is for immediate loading and unloading only, and vehicles may not be left unattended in front of the terminal. The area outside the Arrivals Hall is not a pick-up zone: drivers are asked to wait in the car park. If you need time to transfer from a wheelchair to a car, ask whether the assistance agent can take you to the car park rather than to the kerb.
For the rest of the building, see our Curaçao Airport terminal guide, the step-by-step departures guide, the arrivals guide and the page on parking at Curaçao Airport.
Contacts to keep
The airport's general line is +599 9 839 1000, staffed daily from 06:00 to 22:00, and its general email is [email protected]. Sunflower questions go to [email protected] and CUR Exclusive bookings to [email protected].
Sources
- Curaçao Airport Partners, curacao-airport.com, read 29 September 2026: Sunflower Lanyard for Hidden Disabilities page, Airport Services list, Assistance page (CUR Exclusive), VIP Lounge, Check-in, Security Screening, the expansion works page, Airlines directory and the FAQ on the Contact page.
- Operator press releases: Sunflower lanyard launch (September 2020), two new passenger boarding bridges (9 September 2025), start of the departures expansion (17 May 2026).
- Operator documents: CUR Factsheet 2026 and the expansion project Q&A (August 2026).
- Airline accessibility pages read 29 September 2026: KLM mobility assistance, TUI travel with a disability, American Airlines special assistance, JetBlue mobility assistance, United wheelchair assistance, Delta accessible travel services and Air Canada accessibility.
