Toussaint Louverture International Airport

During the 1940s, a military and civil airfield, Bowen Field - the smaller military airport in Chancerelles, not the international airport - was established near Baie de Port-au-Prince providing passenger air service by Compagnie Haitienne de Transports Aériens. In the 1950s and 1960s it served as an airbase for the U.S. military in Haiti. Developed with grant money from the United States Government and mostly money collected from the People of Haiti (taxes, lottery, etc.), the current airport opened as François Duvalier International Airport in 1965, named after then Haitian president François "Papa Doc" Duvalier.

Duvalier's son and successor Jean-Claude Duvalier resigned in 1986. The airport was renamed Port-au-Prince International Airport. President Jean Bertrand Aristide renamed the airport again as Toussaint Louverture International Airport in 2003, in honour of Toussaint Louverture, the Haitian revolutionary Leader.

The airport was badly damaged by the 2010 Haiti earthquake, see Damage to infrastructure in the 2010 Haiti earthquake#Toussaint Louverture International Airport. On 25 November 2012, President Michel Joseph Martelly opened the newly repaired arrivals terminal.

Aerial view of Runway 10

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 3 jet bridges, but most passengers walk onto aircraft from mobile stairs. The ramp area can handle 12 planes.[1]

The airport is to be re-designed completely by the year 2015. The re-making of the airport is to add 14 gates to the terminal and also will make the main passenger terminal bigger.[2] As of June 15, 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.[3]

Terminal aerial view

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

• 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.[5]
• 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.[6]
• 

  Terminal from the taxiway
  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.[5]
• 12 February 1996: A Haiti Express GAF Nomad aircraft (N224E) crashed shortly after taking off. Two crew members and 8 passengers died.[5]
• 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.[5]
• 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.[5]
• 

  National Airlines cargo at PAP apron
  12 January 2010: The 2010 Haiti earthquake damaged its control tower, and relief work afterwards caused a huge increase in flights.
• 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.[7]

• Jacmel Airport, another airport used for 2010 earthquake relief flights in Haiti
• Operation Unified Response, US military relief effort for the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti
• List of airports in Haiti
• List of the busiest airports in the Caribbean

Media related to Toussaint Louverture International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website