THE HAGUE – The Dutch Ministry of Defense spent more than 6.6 million euros on flights to the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom in 2025, making it by far the Dutch government’s largest traveling institution within the Kingdom.
According to Dutch government figures on official foreign travel expenses, Curaçao was the ministry’s primary destination.
Defense alone spent more than 4.5 million euros on flights between Amsterdam and Curaçao. In addition, the ministry spent more than 1.38 million euros on travel to Aruba, approximately 323,000 euros on flights to Bonaire and more than 376,000 euros on travel to Sint Maarten.
The ministry also recorded the highest number of trips by a wide margin.
In total, Defense registered 3,326 flights to Curaçao, 1,078 to Aruba, 271 to Sint Maarten and 221 to Bonaire.
Hotel expenses were also substantial. Defense spent nearly 399,000 euros on accommodations in Curaçao and more than 257,000 euros on Sint Maarten.
The high travel volume is directly linked to the Netherlands’ permanent military presence in the Caribbean region.
That includes regular rotations of marines and military personnel stationed in the Caribbean, logistical support for the Parera naval base on Curaçao, coast guard operations, military exercises, maritime patrols and regional security deployments.
The figures also show that Defense makes relatively limited use of business class travel compared to its overall travel volume. Most of the ministry’s spending consists of economy-class tickets used for operational personnel movements.
The growing expenditures reflect the increasing geopolitical importance of the Caribbean part of the Kingdom within Dutch and NATO security policy.
In recent years, the Netherlands has steadily increased defense spending and military investments amid concerns over regional security, tensions involving Venezuela, drug trafficking routes, maritime security and border control.
The Dutch government has also announced plans to sharply expand overall defense spending in the coming years as NATO members move toward higher military spending targets.
Curaçao continues to play a central role in Dutch Caribbean defense operations due to the island’s strategic location near Venezuela and its importance for naval and coast guard activities throughout the southern Caribbean.
In addition to Defense spending, other Dutch ministries together spent another 4.4 million euros on airline tickets and nearly 1.34 million euros on hotel costs for official travel within the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom in 2025.