International flights can land at airport in Haiti’s southwest for the 1st time

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — An airport in southwestern Haiti is ready to receive international flights for the first time, officials said Wednesday, adding a safer option for commercial airlines that have halted all flights to the main airport in Port-au-Prince, where gang violence persists.

The Antoine Simon Airport in the coastal city of Les Cayes, named after a Haitian president who led a rebellion in the early 1900s, operated for almost two decades before renovations began in 2013 to extend its runway.

It is now Haiti’s third international airport, a development that is expected to boost the local economy and provide a new way for some nonprofits to distribute sorely needed aid.

“It’s really exciting,” said Wynn Walent, executive director of the Colorado-based nonprofit Locally Haiti, which operates in Haiti’s southwest. “For understandable reasons, folks are focused on the challenges in Port-au-Prince, but there is so much that can be done in the south. This could be a big step in that direction.”

Hugh Aprile, Mercy Corps’ regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean, celebrated the new runway, saying it’s possible more organizations will base their teams in Les Cayes instead of Port-au-Prince.

“Much of the needs are in the southern peninsula,” he said. “For us, this will be helpful.”

Leslie Voltaire, president of Haiti’s transitional presidential council, traveled to Les Cayes to unveil the renovated airport Wednesday, saying it would help develop sectors including tourism.

“Infrastructure is the basis of a country’s economic development,” he said.

Most people traveling to Haiti land at the international airport in the north coastal city of Cap-Haitien, then travel by land or helicopter to the capital.

The Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince remains open but commercial flights have been halted since gangs opened fire on three planes in November, slightly injuring a flight attendant.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration extended a ban on U.S. flights to Haiti’s capital until March 12.

It wasn’t immediately clear if U.S. commercial flights will use the redeveloped airport, nor if any international flights have landed yet on the extended runway at Les Cayes.

Local media reported that technicians from the U.S. airline JetBlue arrived in Les Cayes to inspect the runway. The company did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Martine Villeneuve, country director for Action Against Hunger, celebrated the renovated airport but noted it came too late for her organization.

Action Against Hunger was targeted by the recent USAID cuts and was forced to eliminate a nutrition and feeding program that served 13,000 people in Haiti’s rural northeast and south. Now, the organization is focused on helping people in Port-au-Prince and the central Artibonite region.

“We are trapped in Port-au-Prince,” she said. “It’s very difficult to get in and out.”

Gangs control 85% of the capital as well as all the main roads leading to the country’s north and south.

Associated Press reporter Evens Sanon in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, contributed.