Port-au-Prince International Airport

Toussaint Louverture International Airport is an international airport located in Tabarre

Tabarre

Tabarre is a municipality in the Port-au-Prince Arrondissement, in the Ouest Department of Haiti....

Port-au-Prince

Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....

in Haiti

Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

. The airport is currently the busiest in Haiti

Haiti

History

In the 1940s a military and civil airfield, Bowen Field, was established near Baie de Port-au-Prince providing passenger air service by Compagnie Haitienne de Transports Aériens. It served as an airbase for the U.S. military in Haiti in the 1950s and 1960s.

Developed with grant money from the United States Government, the current airport opened in 1965 as Francois Duvalier International Airport, named after then Haitian president Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier. Following the resignation of Duvalier's son and successor Jean Claude Duvalier in 1986, the airport was renamed Port-au-Prince International Airport
Port-au-Prince International Airport
Toussaint Louverture International Airport is an international airport located in Tabarre, near Port-au-Prince in Haiti. The airport is currently the busiest in Haiti.- History :...

, before being renamed again as Toussaint Louverture International Airport in 2003, in honour of the Haitian revolutionary leader.

Facilities

The main building of the airport works as the International Terminal. It consists of a two story concrete and glass structure. Lounges

Airport lounge

An airport lounge is a lounge owned by a particular airline . Many offer private meeting rooms, phone, fax, wireless and Internet access and other business services, along with provisions to enhance comfort such as free drinks and snacks...

and a few retail stores are located 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

Guy Malary

Guy Malary was a Justice Minister of Haiti, appointed by Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1991 and continuing in office under the post-1991 Haitian coup d'état regime. He was killed in an ambush along with his bodyguards. "According to the petitioners [to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights], in...

) is used for domestic flights. There are further buildings used for general aviation

General aviation

General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...

and cargo flights. The airport has 3 jet bridges, but most passengers walk onto aircraft from mobile stairs. The ramp area can handle 12 planes.

Currently, international passengers are transported by bus to a warehouse near the terminal where they go through customs and immigration processing. The jet-ways are still operational. American Airlines still operates check-in, security, and boarding on the west end of the terminal near Gate 1.

Access

The airport can be accessed by car (with parking space being located adjacent to the terminal building) or by National Bus Route 1.

Airlines and destinations

Cargo airlines

Hub Operations

As of July 2011, Toussaint Louverture serves as operating hub for scheduled domestic airlines SALSA d'Haiti

Salsa d'Haiti

SALSA d'Haiti is a Haitian airline headquartered at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It flies several round trip flights daily between Cap-Haitien and Port-au-Prince....

and Tortug' Air

Tortug' Air

Tortug' Air is a domestic airline in Haiti, and serves as Haiti's national flag carrier. The airline was founded in March 2003 and is based in Port-au-Prince. According to the airline, more than 200 people are employed with the company....

. Additionally, the charter airline Sunrise Airways

Sunrise Airways

Sunrise Airways, founded in 2010, is an airline in Haiti that now provides charter flights. Sunrise Airways specializes in passenger charters, ad-hoc charter flights, chains of charter flights, and wet lease of its aircraft....

is based out of the Port-au-Prince airport.

Incidents and accidents

March 7, 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.
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.
December 7, 1995: An Air St. Martin Beechcraft 1900D aircraft (F-OHRK) hit a mountain at an altitude of 5030 feet (1,533 m), 30 kilometres (18.6 mi) away from airport. Two crew members and 18 passengers (which were illegal immigrants to Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...

) were killed.
February 12, 1996: A Haiti Express GAF Nomad
GAF Nomad
The GAF Nomad is a twin-engine turboprop, high-winged, "short take off and landing" aircraft . It was designed and built by the Australian Government Aircraft Factories at Fishermens Bend, Melbourne. Major users of the design have included the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, the...

aircraft (N224E) crashed shortly after taking off. Two crew members and 8 passengers died.
August 31, 2007: A Caribintair
Caribintair
Caribintair is an airline that flew domestic and international routes from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It was established in 1989. Operations stopped in April 2009....

Cessna Grand Caravan
Cessna 208
The Cessna 208 Caravan is a single turboprop engine, fixed-gear short-haul regional airliner and utility aircraft built in the United States by Cessna. The airplane typically seats nine passengers, with a single person crew, although with a FAR Part 23 waiver, it can seat up to fourteen passengers...

(HH-CAR) crashed shortly after takeoff 5 kilometres (3 mi) away from the airport. There were no fatal injuries.
September 11, 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.