An international airport located in Tabarre
Toussaint Louverture International Airport
(
Haitian Creole
:
Ayewopo Entenasyonal Tousen Louveti
,
French
:
Aeroport International Toussaint Louverture
) (
IATA
:
PAP
,
ICAO
:
MTPP
) is an international airport in
Tabarre
, a commune of Port-au-Prince in Haiti. The airport is currently the busiest in Haiti and is an operating hub for
Sunrise Airways
.
It is informally called "the Mais-Gate airport", named after the area in the
Cul-de-Sac Plain
where the airport was built.
[1]
History
[
edit
]
During the
United States occupation of Haiti
the
United States Marine Corps
stationed Marine Observation units using
HS-1 and HS-2
aircraft in what later became Bowen Field (c. 1919).
[2]
In 1942, the USMC was sent to Haiti to build a facility to service
Douglas O-38
aircraft used by
Haiti Air Corps
to observe Nazi German activity in the region.
The USMC built Bowen Field (also known as Chancerelles Airport
[3]
), a small civilian and military airport located near Chancerelles area near the Baie de Port-au-Prince.
[4]
Bowen Field was used by
Haiti Air Corps
for mail (1943) and passenger (1944) services,
[5]
then succeeded by the
Compagnie haitienne de transports aeriens
[6]
beginning in 1961. In the 1950s and the 1960s, it served as an airbase for the US military in Haiti. The current airport located further northeast of Bowen Field was developed with grant money from the US government and mostly money collected from Haitian people (taxes, lottery, etc.), opened as Francois Duvalier International Airport in 1965, after the Haitian president at the time,
Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier
.
[
citation needed
]
The old Bowen field was decommissioned after 1994 and is now hosts Internally Displaced Persons Camp and Centre Sportif. The runway is now part of Avenue Haile Selassie.
Duvalier's son and successor,
Jean-Claude Duvalier
, resigned in 1986. The airport was renamed Port-au-Prince International Airport. Haitian President
Jean Bertrand Aristide
renamed the airport again as Toussaint Louverture International Airport in 2003 to honor
Toussaint Louverture
, the leader of the
Haitian Revolution
.
[
citation needed
]
The
airport was badly damaged
by the
2010 Haiti earthquake
.
[7]
On 25 November 2012, Haitian President
Michel Joseph Martelly
opened the newly repaired arrivals terminal.
[8]
On 7 July 2021, following the
assassination
of Haitian President
Jovenel Moise
, the airport was closed and flights were sent back to their origins.
[9]
The airport was attacked by gangs alongside the
March 2024 Haitian jailbreak
, preventing Prime Minister
Ariel Henry
from returning to Haiti from overseas, and prompting the closure of the airport to commercial flights.
[10]
By May 2024, authorities had nationalized space around the perimeter of the airport and torn down 350 buildings to increase security.
[11]
The US military began flying cargo planes into the airport on 23 April
[12]
and by mid-May had transported over 500 tons of material, including equipment for the Haitian National Police.
[13]
During this time, civilian flights remained suspended.
[14]
The airport was reopened for civilian airliners on 20 May, with Haitian passenger airline
Sunrise Airways
and American cargo airline
Amerijet
restoring service to Miami.
[15]
Facilities
[
edit
]
The main building of the airport works as the International Terminal. It is a two-story concrete and glass structure.
Lounges
and a few retail stores are on the second floor of the main building. Check-in counters, gates and immigration facilities are on the lower floor. The Guy Malary Terminal (named after former Haitian Justice Minister
Guy Malary
) is used for domestic flights. There are further buildings used for
general aviation
and cargo flights. The airport has three
jet bridges
, but most passengers walk onto aircraft from mobile stairs. The ramp area can handle 12 planes.
[16]
The airport was to be re-designed completely by 2015. The re-making of the airport was to add 14 gates to the terminal and also will make the main passenger terminal bigger.
[17]
As of 15 June 2016, a taxiway is under construction to increase traffic capacity, as taxiing aircraft currently must use the active runway to taxi to their takeoff position. Work is being performed by China National Automation Control System Corporation which has multiple large construction contracts with the Haitian government.
[18]
Airlines and destinations
[
edit
]
Passenger
[
edit
]
- As of March 2024 most flights are currently suspended due to the current political turmoil
[19]
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter services at the airport:
Airlines
| Destinations
|
---|
Air Caraibes
| Paris?Orly
|
Air France
| Pointe-a-Pitre
|
Air Transat
| Montreal?Trudeau
|
American Airlines
| Miami
|
Caicos Express Airways
| Providenciales
|
Fly All Ways
| Seasonal Charter:
Curacao
,
Paramaribo
|
InterCaribbean Airways
| Providenciales
|
JetBlue
| Fort Lauderdale
,
New York?JFK
|
Sky High
| Santo Domingo?Las Americas
[20]
|
Spirit Airlines
| Fort Lauderdale
|
Sunrise Airways
| Camaguey
,
Cap-Haitien
,
Fort-de-France
,
Havana
,
Holguin
,
Jeremie
,
Les Cayes
,
Panama City?Tocumen
,
Pointe-a-Pitre
,
Punta Cana
,
[21]
Santiago de Cuba
,
Santo Domingo?La Isabela
|
Surinam Airways
| Charter:
Paramaribo
|
Winair
| Curacao
,
St. Maarten
|
Cargo
[
edit
]
Statistics
[
edit
]
Access
[
edit
]
The airport can be accessed by car (with parking space next to the terminal building) or by National Bus Route 1.
Accidents and incidents
[
edit
]
- 8 September 1974: A Transportes Aereos de Integracion (TAISA)
Curtiss C-46 Commando
impacted a mountain near Port-au-Prince because of engine failure. All four occupants were killed.
[24]
- 3 March 1980: A
Learjet
(N211MB) operating on a corporate charter flight on behalf of 'Merchant Bank' crashed in the hills on arrival at airport. One passenger and two crew members died.
[25]
- 12 July 1980: A
Douglas C-47
crashed on approach, killing all three people on board. The aircraft was being used illegally to transport
marijuana
.
[26]
- 15 September 1980, a JMG Inc.
Douglas DC-6
ditched into the ocean because of three engines being shut down because of running out of oil. All four occupants died.
[27]
- 7 December 1995: An Air St. Martin
Beechcraft 1900D
aircraft (F-OHRK)
hit a mountain
at an altitude of 5,030 feet (1,533 m), 30 kilometres (19 mi) away from airport. Two crew members and 18 passengers (which were illegal immigrants to
Guadeloupe
) were killed.
[25]
- 12 February 1996: A Haiti Express
GAF Nomad
aircraft (N224E) crashed shortly after taking off. Two crew members and 8 passengers died.
[25]
- 31 August 2007: A
Caribintair
Cessna Grand Caravan
(HH-CAR) crashed shortly after takeoff 5 kilometres (3 mi) away from the airport. There were no fatal injuries.
[25]
- 11 September 2007: Only eleven days after the previous accident another plane crash of a Caribintair Cessna Grand Caravan (HH-CAW) occurred near the airport, this time upon landing 10 kilometres (6 mi) short of the runway.
[25]
- 26 May 2013: A Brazilian Air Force KC-137 transport aircraft veered off the runway after an engine fire during takeoff, crashing into the grass next to the runway. The plane was carrying 121 Brazilian soldiers deployed to the UN stabilization force in Haiti (MINUSTAH) but no injuries were reported. Small aircraft were allowed to resume flying on Monday, but large aircraft that could not pass the KC-137 (mostly to/from the USA) were suspended for days.
[28]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Lacombe, Robert (1977).
La republique d'Haiti
(in French). La Documentation francaise. p. 84.
l'aerodrome F. Duvalier de Port-au-Prince, situe a ≪ Mais Gate ≫ a l'entree de la plaine du Cul-de-Sac.
- ^
Johnson, Wray R. (2019).
Biplanes at War
. University Press at Kentucky. p. 89.
ISBN
9780813177052
.
- ^
Port-Au-Prince and Vicinity
(Map). Army Map Service. 1967.
- ^
Airman
. 2002.
- ^
"CoHata (Compagnie Haitienne de Transports Aeriens) history from Americas, Haiti"
.
- ^
"Haiti Air Force"
.
Aeroflight
.
- ^
"Red Cross estimates 50,000 died in Haiti quake"
.
CBC News
. 14 January 2010.
- ^
"Haiti Unveils Renovations at Toussaint Louverture International Airport"
.
Caribbean Journal
. 25 November 2012.
- ^
"Haiti ? FLASH : Closure of the airport ? HaitiLibre.com : Haiti news 7/7"
.
Haiti Libre
.
Archived
from the original on 7 July 2021.
- ^
Buschschluter, Vanessa (5 March 2024).
"Haiti gangs try to take over Port-au-Prince airport"
.
BBC News
. Retrieved
28 April
2024
.
- ^
Cesaire, Michelson (10 May 2024).
"350 maisons demolies, 90 a detruire pour securiser l'aeroport Toussaint Louverture"
.
Le Nouvelliste
(in French).
- ^
Joly, Alwytch (23 April 2024).
"Un premier vol d'avion sur Port-au-Prince"
.
Haiti Loopnews
(in French).
- ^
Alphonse, Robenson (10 May 2024).
"Le departement de defense des USA fait le point sur son appui au deploiement de la MMSS"
.
Le Nouvelliste
(in French).
- ^
Charles, Jacqueline (10 May 2024).
"American Airlines, JetBlue Airways once more delay resumption of daily service into Haiti"
.
Miami Herald
.
- ^
"Haiti's main international airport reopens nearly three months after gang violence forced it closed"
.
AP News
. 20 May 2024
. Retrieved
20 May
2024
.
- ^
Globe and Mail,
"A once sleepy airport is now Haiti's overstretched lifeline"
, Paul Koring, 19 January 2010 (accessed 20 January 2010)
- ^
Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
. 14 November 2012.
Archived
from the original on 21 December 2021
. Retrieved
6 June
2015
– via YouTube.
- ^
"Haiti ? Reconstruction : Signature of 4 agreements with a Chinese company"
.
Haiti Libre
. Retrieved
16 June
2016
.
- ^
"Haiti's Airports are closed"
.
- ^
"Skyhigh Dominicana 1Q24 Network Expansion Update"
.
Aeroroutes
. Retrieved
5 February
2024
.
- ^
"Sunrise Airways Adds Punta Cana Service From late-Oct 2022"
.
Aeroroutes
. Retrieved
12 October
2022
.
- ^
amerijet.com ? Flight schedule
retrieved 5 December 2021
- ^
ibcairways.com ? Air Cargo
retrieved 5 December 2021
- ^
Accident description for TI-1010C
at the
Aviation Safety Network
. Retrieved on October 19, 2023.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Harro Ranter.
"Port-au-Prince-Mais Gate Airport profile ? Aviation Safety Network"
. Retrieved
6 June
2015
.
- ^
"Accident description"
. Aviation Safety Network
. Retrieved
3 July
2010
.
- ^
Accident description for N9018N
at the
Aviation Safety Network
. Retrieved on October 19, 2023.
- ^
"Engine Fire And Crash of Brazilian Air Force Plane in Haiti"
.
Haiti Observer
. 27 May 2013
. Retrieved
28 June
2013
.
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Toussaint Louverture International Airport
at Wikimedia Commons
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