Summary
- Port-au-Prince airport reopens after gang violence, expected to alleviate critical supply shortage.
- US-based airlines postpone flights, JetBlue & American Airlines are not resuming until early June 2024.
- Sunrise Airways is the only carrier operating international and domestic flights to PAP airport.
Haiti’s Port-au-Prince Toussaint Louverture International Airport (PAP) has reopened for operations three months after gang violence forced it to close. The reopening of Toussaint Louverture Airport in Port-au-Prince is expected to alleviate the critical shortage of medications and other essential supplies.
Multiple US-based airlines, such as American Airlines and JetBlue Airways, intended to resume their daily flights to the country’s capital. However, they have postponed their return several times and have not yet resumed service to the city.
Expected return by early June
According to a report by AP News, US-based airlines are not expected to start using the PAP airport until early June 2024. Both return dates would mark the resumption of US flights from Florida’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport (FLL) to the country.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
In a statement to The Miami Herald, a JetBlue Airways spokesperson said that “as a result of the recent civil unrest in Haiti, we have canceled operations through Tuesday, June 4.” According to data from Flightradar24.com, the last JetBlue flight, B61709, between FLL airport and PAP airport was conducted on March 3, 2024. JetBlue added:
“We continue to monitor the situation and are working closely with the US embassy and our team in Haiti to determine the next steps.”
In the meantime, American Airlines had planned to restart its flights to Port-au-Prince on May 9, 2024, following the swearing-in of a new Haitian government in a secret ceremony two weeks prior. However, the airline once again postponed its return due to safety concerns.
In its most recent update on May 13, 2024, American Airlines revised its “Port-au-Prince Civil Unrest – Travel Notice Exception Policy,” extending the affected flight dates to PAP airport from May 31 to June 23, 2024. This means that the resumption of flights to PAP airport would likely see the airline return in late June instead of late May, as previously expected.
At present, Sunrise Airways, a Haitian airline, is the only carrier that has resumed flights to and from PAP airport. As per a The Haitian Times report, the airline is currently running domestic flights from PAP airport to Cap-Haïtien and Les Cayes.
Photo: Guerinault Louis | Shutterstock
It also plans to gradually restart international flights to Panama, Sint Maarten, and Guadeloupe, while awaiting the reopening of airspace to the Dominican Republic.
Evacuation flights
Haiti has been mired in civil unrest since 2018, reaching a peak after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021. Subsequent protests, triggered by soaring energy prices, saw gangs blockading the nation’s largest fuel depot.
Over the years, the country’s political crisis has deepened, and as of March 2024, all of its airports are closed. All American commercial airlines have halted operations in the country, except for conducting evacuation flights from Haiti in April 2024.
US To End Haiti Evacuation Flights Next Week
Only US citizens with proper identification will be permitted to board the flights.
In its latest efforts, the Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), in collaboration with the Haitian National Police (HNP), the National Airport Authority, the Civil Aviation Authority, and other airport personnel and security, effectively transported essential equipment for the HNP at Port-au-Prince Airport.
This shipment of non-lethal equipment comprised personal protective gear and maintenance supplies, reinforcing INL security assistance initiatives in Haiti aimed at aiding the HNP in combating gang activity.
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