Cuban airport serving Havana located in Boyeros
Jose Marti International Airport
(
IATA
:
HAV
,
ICAO
:
MUHA
), sometimes known by its former name
Rancho Boyeros Airport
, is an
international airport
located 20 kilometres (12 mi) southwest of the centre of
Havana
, Cuba, and is a hub for
Cubana de Aviacion
and
Aerogaviota
, and former Latin American hub for the Soviet (later Russian) airline
Aeroflot
.
[5]
It is
Cuba
's main international airport, and serves several million passengers each year. The facility is operated by
Empresa Cubana de Aeropuertos y Servicios Aeronauticos
(ECASA).
The airport lies in the municipality of
Boyeros
and connects Havana with the rest of the
Caribbean
, North, Central and South America, as well as Europe. It is named in memory of patriot and poet
Jose Marti
.
Private Cuban citizens are not allowed to own aircraft; all aircraft in Cuba belong to state-owned airlines or the military. Only government- and foreign-owned aircraft are allowed to use the facilities. As of 2020
[update]
,
Copa Airlines
was the foreign airline with most flights to the airport, operating 34 flights a week (roughly five daily flights) from
Panama City
, Panama and
Bogota
, Colombia.
History
[
edit
]
The current
Jose Marti
Airport in 1930 replaced the
Columbia Airfield
, which was the first airport to serve Havana. The original name of the airport,
Rancho Boyeros
, meaning the "(Bull) Drover Ranch", was in reference to the name of the plains where the airport was being built. It was known as the
Rancho Boyeros
because in
colonial times
a local family had built a thatched hut and provided meals and an inn to the weary
drovers
that brought agricultural products to the capital from
Batabano
and
Vuelta Abajo
.
To give a progressive environment to the airport, the old ranch homes were transformed into a small town that would serve as an industrial, livestock, agriculture and commercial centre, rising comfortable homes, an industrial technical school, a paint factory and other facilities. The town today is known as the Boyeros Municipality.
Beginnings
[
edit
]
- 1929: The construction of Jose Marti Airport, formerly
Rancho Boyeros Airport
, was authorized in March 1929 by General Order No. 223.
- 1930: On February 24, the airport opened, replacing
Havana Columbia Airfield
.
- 1930: On October 30, the first flight by
Cubana de Aviacion
(formerly
Compania Nacional Cubana de Aviacion Curtiss
) from Havana to
Santiago de Cuba
carried the mail on a
Ford Trimotor
with stops in
Santa Clara
,
Moron
and
Camaguey
.
- 1936: non-commercial flights to
Madrid
started with a
Lockheed Sirius
named
September 4
, commanded by Capt. Antonio Menendez Pelaez. She was flown via
Venezuela
,
Natal, Brazil
, and
Dakar, Senegal
.
- 1943: By January 1943 the airport had its first
control tower
, the first in the country.
- 1945: The
International Air Transport Association
(IATA) is formed at Havana.
- 1945: Cubana's first international flight out of the airport was a
Douglas DC-3
to Miami on May 15.
- 1946: First transatlantic flight from any Latin American country to Europe: Havana-Madrid was on
DC-4
, operated by Aerovias Cubanas Internacionales (Cunnair), founded by Cuban pioneer Reinaldo Ramirez Rosell.
- 1948: On May 5 Cubana's first transatlantic flight Havana-Madrid was on
DC-4
Estrella de Cuba
.
- 1950: On April 2 the airport had a second route to Europe, Havana-Rome on a
Cubana de Aviacion
DC-4.
- 1951: The first night flight landed at the airport from Santiago de Cuba with a DC-3.
- 1953: First flight to
Mexico City
on a Cubana
Constellation
.
International service in the 1950s
[
edit
]
- Pan American World Airways
in the 1950s had 4-8 daily flights from Havana to Miami. It connected Havana with
Merida
and
San Salvador
, with DC-4 and
DC-6
. It also had flights to the south, including
Jamaica
, Venezuela and other South American countries.
[
citation needed
]
- Aerolineas Argentinas
connected
Buenos Aires
to Havana via
Rio de Janeiro
,
Trinidad
, and New York City, with DC-6s.
- Aeropostal Venezolana S.A.
flew Miami-Havana-
Caracas
with Super Constellations.
- Braniff International Airways
DC-6s connected Havana to the north with
Houston
, and to the south with
Panama
and other South American countries, such as Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Argentina and others.
- Delta Air Lines
connected Havana with
New Orleans
and Chicago and to the south with
Montego Bay
, Jamaica and Caracas. It also flew from Havana to
Port-au-Prince
, Haiti,
Santo Domingo
, Dominican Republic, and
San Juan, Puerto Rico
. It flew with
Convair 440
and DC-7. Delta resumed its flights to New Orleans in March 2015, after not flying the route for over 50 years.
[6]
- Iberia
vied with Cubana in the route to Madrid, with Super Constellations.
- KLM
flew between Havana-
Montreal
-Europe with DC-7 and the route Miami-Havana-
Curacao
, with DC-6 and DC-7.
- LACSA
,
Lineas Aereas Costarricenses
, connected Havana with
San Jose
and other cities in Central America, such as
Guatemala City
, mainly with Convair 340.
- Mackey Airlines
inaugurated its passenger service between
Fort Lauderdale
and Havana, with DC-4.
- Mexicana de Aviacion
flew between Havana, Merida and Mexico City, 4 times weekly.
- National Airlines
in 1958 flew daily from New York City, Tampa, and Miami, with DC-6, DC-7 and Convair 340/440.
- Cubana de Aviacion
in 1958 flew five daily Viscount 818s to Miami, and Bristol Britannia 318s to Madrid, Mexico City, and New York.
[
citation needed
]
Recent history
[
edit
]
In 1961,
diplomatic relations with the United States
deteriorated substantially and with the
United States embargo against Cuba
, airlines from the United States were not permitted to operate regular scheduled flights to the airport. That year, two days prior to the failed
Bay of Pigs Invasion
organized by the CIA with the participation of Cuban exiles, Douglas A-26 Invader aircraft from Brigade 2506 bombarded Jose Marti Airport and
Antonio Maceo Airport
in Santiago de Cuba.
Because of Cuba's
relationship
with the
Soviet Union
, the airport during the 1970s and 1980s enjoyed the presence of many
Eastern Bloc
airline companies, such as Aeroflot,
Czechoslovak Airlines
,
Interflug
, and
LOT Polish Airlines
. In 1977 an Aeroflot
Ilyushin Il-62
operating a scheduled flight from Moscow to Havana via Frankfurt and Lisbon crashed after takeoff from Lisbon, killing 68 of the 70 on board and one person on the ground.
[7]
In 1989 another Ilyushin Il-62, operated by Cubana as
Cubana de Aviacion Flight 9046
, crashed shortly after takeoff from Havana. All 115 passengers and 11 crew members as well as a number persons on the ground were killed.
In 1988, Terminal 2 was constructed in anticipation of future charter flights to the United States. In the 1990s the special charter flights were approved by the US government, to operate from Miami for Cuban citizens living in the United States that have close relatives in Cuba. Today, various airlines operate non-stop scheduled charter service between Havana and Miami. Terminal 2 was remodeled and expanded in 2010.
On 31 December 1997 a
Concorde
landed in Cuba for the first time, landing at Jose Marti Airport.
[8]
The London-Paris-Barbados-Havana
Air France
flight was received at the airport by Fidel Castro, who boarded the aircraft and greeted the crew and passengers. On 26 April the following year, the new International Terminal 3 was inaugurated by Canada's Prime Minister Jean Chretien and Cuba's President Fidel Castro. In 2002
Air Freight Logistics Enterprise
(ELCA S.A.) opened Jose Marti's first freight terminal known as the
Aerovaradero Freight Terminal
. The terminal has a 600 t (590 long tons; 660 short tons) capacity, 2,000 m
3
(71,000 cu ft) of space in two refrigeration and freezing chambers, with humidity and gas controls.
In 2007, three young recruits who deserted from the Cuban Army tried to hijack a commercial passenger aircraft aiming to defect to the United States. At Terminal 1, the would-be hijackers killed one of the hostages, a lieutenant colonel.
[9]
Special charter service to the United States were allowed from the 1990s, but were required to be operated by travel companies licensed by the U.S. government, largely from Florida. In March 2015,
Sun Country Airlines
started operating regularly scheduled charter flights from
New York
during the
Cuban Thaw
.
[10]
Regularly scheduled commercial service to and from the United States began again in the fall of 2016, with such airlines as American, Delta, JetBlue and, after January 2017, Alaska, flying to Havana.
[11]
However, several airlines had dropped, if not cut back, flights to Cuba by late 2017 due in part to
President Trump
's decision to reimpose stricter travel regulations, therefore partially ending the Cuban Thaw. Several other reasons that the airlines ended the flights were because of weaker-than-expected demand and a paucity of tourist infrastructure.
[12]
In February 2016, a VIP room at the airport was used as the location for the
historic meeting of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill
.
In March 2020, Cuba announced that it was closing its borders because of the
COVID-19 pandemic
. Only humanitarian flights were then permitted. On 10 November 2020, it was announced that the airport would re-open to commercial flights on 15 November.
[13]
Some airlines started operations again, but not all those which had flown previously. In January 2021, the Cuban authorities placed restrictions on the number of flights from a number of countries, and halted flights from a few. Separately, Canadian airlines stopped flying to Caribbean destinations, including Cuba.
Terminals
[
edit
]
There are currently three passenger
terminals
in general use at the airport.
[14]
Terminal 1 is used primarily for domestic flights. Terminal 2 opened in 1988, primarily for charter flights to the United States. Ten years later on 27 April 1998, the International Terminal 3 opened, offering many modern facilities and
jetways
that the former international Terminal 1 did not provide. For transfer between terminals, bus services are offered.
[
citation needed
]
Terminal 1
[
edit
]
Domestic Terminal 1 was the main international and domestic terminal building in the airport prior to the opening of Terminals 2 and 3. It is located on the east side of Runway 6, and is now used primarily for domestic flights.
Terminal 2
[
edit
]
Terminal 2 handles some long-distance international flights, such as to
Zurich
,
Frankfurt
, and
Helsinki
, along with a few Caribbean flights, such as to
Aruba
,
Trinidad and Tobago
, and most scheduled charter flights to and from
Miami
,
Tampa
,
Ft. Lauderdale
, and
New York City
. The scheduled charter flights to the United States are operated by Gulfstream Air Charters, ABC Charters, Marazul Charters, CTS Charters, and C & T Charters. The terminal is located on the north side roughly 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from Terminal 3, and is just in front of the threshold of runway 24. It was constructed in 1988 when the first charter flights after
the revolution
were opened from Miami. There are bars, bookshops, newsagents, a restaurant, and car rentals.
Terminal 3
[
edit
]
International Terminal 3 is the main international terminal, opened in 1998. It is the largest and most modern of all terminals. Ticketing and departures are located on the upper level; arrivals and
baggage carousels
are located on the lower level. There are several car rentals located in the arrivals area.
Airlines and destinations
[
edit
]
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Havana Airport:
Airlines
| Destinations
|
---|
Aeroflot
| Moscow?Sheremetyevo
[15]
|
Aerogaviota
| Baracoa
,
Cayo Coco
,
Holguin
,
Kingston?Norman Manley
,
Montego Bay
,
Santiago de Cuba
|
Aeromexico
| Mexico City
|
Air Century
| Santo Domingo?La Isabela
|
Air China
| Beijing?Capital
,
[16]
Madrid
[16]
|
Air Europa
| Madrid
|
Air France
| Paris?Charles de Gaulle
Seasonal charter:
Pointe-a-Pitre
|
American Airlines
| Miami
|
Avianca
| Bogota
(begins July 2, 2024)
[17]
|
Bahamasair
| Nassau
|
Boliviana de Aviacion
| Santa Cruz de La Sierra?Viru Viru
[18]
|
Caribbean Airlines
| Port of Spain
|
Cayman Airways
| Grand Cayman
|
Condor
| Frankfurt
|
Conviasa
| Caracas
,
[19]
Managua
,
Moscow?Vnukovo
[19]
|
Copa Airlines
| Panama City?Tocumen
|
Cubana de Aviacion
| Caracas
,
Cayo Coco
,
Guantanamo
,
Madrid
,
Nueva Gerona
,
Porlamar
,
Santiago de Cuba
|
Delta Air Lines
| Miami
|
Edelweiss Air
| Zurich
|
Fly All Ways
| Georgetown?Cheddi Jagan
,
Paramaribo
|
Havana Air
| Charter:
Miami
,
Tampa
|
Iberia
| Madrid
|
Iberojet
| Madrid
|
InterCaribbean Airways
| Kingston?Norman Manley
,
Providenciales
|
LATAM Peru
| Lima
|
Magnicharters
| Cancun
,
Merida
,
Mexico City?AIFA
|
Neos
| Milan?Malpensa
,
Rome?Fiumicino
|
Plus Ultra Lineas Aereas
| Seasonal Charter:
Madrid
(begins 29 June 2024)
[20]
|
Sky High
| Georgetown-Cheddi Jagan
[21]
|
Southwest Airlines
| Fort Lauderdale
,
Tampa
|
Sunrise Airways
| Port-au-Prince
|
TAAG Angola Airlines
| Seasonal:
Luanda
|
Turkish Airlines
| Istanbul
|
United Airlines
| Houston?Intercontinental
|
United Express
| Houston?Intercontinental
|
Viva Aerobus
| Cancun
,
Merida
,
Mexico City?AIFA
,
Monterrey
|
Wingo
| Bogota
,
Panama City?Balboa
|
World2Fly
| Madrid
|
Accidents and incidents
[
edit
]
- On August 9, 1961, shortly after takeoff, five hijackers stormed the cockpit of a
Cubana de Aviacion
Curtiss C-46 Commando
in which the captain was killed as well as a hijacker and a guard. The co-pilot attempted to go back to Havana Airport and made an emergency landing in a sugar cane field, four hijackers fled the scene. Three died during the hijacking, all others survived the emergency landing.
[22]
- On May 14, 1973,
Cubana de Aviacion
Flight CU 707, an
Antonov An-24
, crashed in bad weather on landing at Havana Airport because of pilot error and miscommunication by the co-pilot. Three occupants died, four were seriously injured and another ten had minor injuries.
[23]
- A
1977 Aeroflot Ilyushin 62 crash
on May 27 killed 68 of the 70 on-board and one person on the ground. At the time, the accident was the deadliest aviation accident in Cuba's history; it remains the third deadliest. One of the victims was
Jose Carlos Schwarz
, a poet and musician from
Guinea-Bissau
.
- On July 7, 1983, Air Florida Flight 8 with 47 people on board was flying from
Fort Lauderdale International Airport
to
Tampa International Airport
. One of the passengers handed a note to one of the flight attendants, saying that he had a bomb and telling them to fly the plane to
Havana, Cuba
. He revealed a small athletic bag, which he opened and inside was an apparent explosive device. The airplane was diverted to Havana-Jose Marti International Airport and the hijacker was taken into custody by Cuban authorities.
[24]
- On September 3, 1989,
Cubana de Aviacion Flight 9046
, an Ilyushin Il-62M (CU-T1281) operating a non-scheduled international passenger flight to
Cologne
(
Cologne Bonn Airport
), West Germany, crashed shortly after take-off. All 115 passengers and 11 crew members as well as 24 persons on the ground were killed and the aircraft was written off.
- On May 3, 2007, two army recruits hijacked a plane destined for Miami at Jose Marti International Airport in Havana. The men killed a hostage before being arrested prior to takeoff. It was the first Cuban hijacking attempt reported since the spring of 2003.
[25]
- On May 18, 2018, a
Global Air (Mexico)
Boeing 737-200
operating as
Cubana de Aviacion Flight 972
crashed after takeoff, killing 112 of the 113 people on board (107 passengers and 6 crew).
[26]
- On March 5, 2023, a
Southwest Airlines
Boeing 737 MAX 8
bound for
Fort Lauderdale
returned for an emergency landing after a bird strike resulted in damage to one of its engines and made smoke fill the cabin.
[27]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
This article incorporates
public domain material
from the
Air Force Historical Research Agency
- ^
"90 aniversario del Aeropuerto"
. February 25, 2020.
- ^
"Top 20 fastest-growing major airports in the world"
. Routesonline.com. March 16, 2018.
Archived
from the original on March 27, 2018
. Retrieved
March 26,
2018
.
- ^
"Havana Jose Marti International Airport: Exciting times and the opportunity to become a regional hub"
.
Archived
from the original on November 8, 2016
. Retrieved
November 7,
2016
.
- ^
"Jose Marti Airport diagram"
(PDF)
.
iacc.gov.cu
(in Spanish). May 10, 2007. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on March 22, 2012
. Retrieved
August 24,
2011
.
- ^
"COMPANY NEWS - Aeroflot May Shift A Hub to Miami - NYTimes.com"
.
New York Times
. October 4, 1990.
- ^
"First Direct Flight From New Orleans To Cuba Since 1958 To Take Off This Weekend"
.
The Huffington Post
. March 13, 2015.
Archived
from the original on April 2, 2015
. Retrieved
June 4,
2015
.
- ^
Ranter, Harro.
"ASN Aircraft accident Ilyushin Il-62M CCCP-86614 Havana-Jose Marti International Airport (HAV)"
.
aviation-safety.net
. Retrieved
January 3,
2020
.
- ^
"VIDEO: El dia que el Concorde aterrizo en La Habana, Cuba"
.
CiberCuba
(in Spanish). April 8, 2017
. Retrieved
September 11,
2019
.
- ^
"Frustrated attempt to hijack a commercial passenger plane"
.
ipsnews.net
. Archived from
the original
on July 1, 2011
. Retrieved
July 25,
2011
.
- ^
ABC News.
"U.S. News - National News"
.
ABC News
.
Archived
from the original on March 26, 2015
. Retrieved
April 3,
2015
.
- ^
"U.S. clears 6 airlines for takeoff to Cuba, but flights won't start right away"
.
Miami Herald
.
Archived
from the original on July 23, 2016
. Retrieved
July 19,
2016
.
- ^
Josephs, Leslie (November 8, 2017).
"Another U.S. airline is quitting Cuba"
.
CNBC
.
- ^
"Aeropuerto Internacional Jose Marti reiniciara operaciones el proximo 15 de noviembre"
. November 11, 2020.
- ^
"Aerodromos de Cuba"
.
iacc.gov.cu
(in Spanish). Archived from
the original
on April 4, 2012.
- ^
"Aeroflot Resumes Havana Service From late-Dec 2023"
.
AeroRoutes
. August 14, 2023
. Retrieved
August 14,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
"Air China will start direct Beijing-Havana flights in May"
. Prensa Latina. April 12, 2024
. Retrieved
April 13,
2024
.
- ^
"Avianca anuncia el regreso de la ruta directa entre Bogota y La Habana a partir del mes de julio"
.
aviacionline.com
(in Spanish)
. Retrieved
May 2,
2024
.
- ^
"Boliviana De Aviacion Announces New Routes To Asuncion, Caracas, and Havana"
.
- ^
a
b
"Conviasa Extends Havana ? Moscow Service into 2024"
.
AeroRoutes
. August 29, 2023
. Retrieved
August 30,
2023
.
- ^
"Plus Ultra Adds Madrid ? Havana Scheduled Charters in 3Q24"
.
Aeroroutes
. Retrieved
April 10,
2024
.
- ^
https://newsroom.gy/2024/05/18/sky-high-dominicana-to-introduce-non-stop-flights-from-cuba-to-guyana-from-may-27/
- ^
Accident description for unknown
at the
Aviation Safety Network
. Retrieved on October 6, 2023.
- ^
Accident description for CU-T876
at the
Aviation Safety Network
. Retrieved on October 6, 2023.
- ^
Harro Ranter (July 7, 1983).
"ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 737 registration unknown Havana-Jose Marti International Airport (HAV)"
.
Archived
from the original on May 7, 2015
. Retrieved
June 4,
2015
.
- ^
(in English)
Americas: Cuba: Officer Dies In Plane Hijacking Attempt
Archived
June 1, 2016, at the
Wayback Machine
,
The New York Times
, May 4, 2007.
- ^
"More than 100 die in Cuba plane crash"
.
BBC News
. May 18, 2018.
Archived
from the original on August 11, 2018
. Retrieved
May 18,
2018
.
- ^
https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/fort-lauderdale-bound-plane-makes-emergency-landing-back-in-cuba-after-bird-strike/2986575/
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Jose Marti International Airport
at Wikimedia Commons
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