Haiti reopens Toussaint Louverture Airport after month-long closure

Haiti’s government has reopened Toussaint Louverture International Airport (PAP) in Port-au-Prince, ending a month-long closure. The airport has been closed since November 2024 due to a series of incidents where aircraft came under gunfire. 

Haiti aviation authority confirmed that Haiti’s main international airport had resumed normal operations on December 11, 2024, following a successful test flight.  

“The resumption of commercial flights marks a turning point for the Haitian economy,” the office of Haiti’s Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé said in a statement, adding that measures have been adopted to ensure the safety and functionality of the airport. 

Heavily armed soldiers and police, along with Kenyan police supporting a United Nations mission to reduce violence, were stationed all around the airport to enhance security in the area.   

The airport was reopened before a flight ban issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was set to expire. The flight ban was originally set to expire on December 12, 2024. However, on the same day as the reopening, the FAA extended the ban on US commercial flights to operate in Haitian airspace until March 12, 2025.  

Since November 12, 2024, the FAA has prohibited US carriers “from operating at altitudes from surface up to 10,000 feet in the territory and airspace of Haiti”. The ban was issued after multiple reports from US airlines, including Spirit Airlines, American Airlines and JetBlue Airways, of aircraft being hit by gunfire while flying in Haitian airspace.  

Haiti’s international non-governmental organization the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect has reported that armed gang activity is growing, especially in the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince. 

Currently there are around 300 criminal groups operating in Haiti, and the United Nation estimates that 2.7 million people, including 1.6 million women and children, reside in areas dominated by gangs.  The post Haiti reopens Toussaint Louverture Airport after month-long closure appeared first on AeroTime.

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