PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Reuters) – Haiti’s international airport, a key economic lifeline for the poorest country in the Americas, will reopen to major commercial airlines on Friday for the first time since a massive earthquake destroyed its control tower, a U.S. military official said.
American Airlines will begin flying to Port-au-Prince on Feb. 19, with Air Canada and Air France to follow shortly after, Brigadier General Darryl Burke, vice commander of Air Forces Southern, said in an interview over the weekend.
The airport was turned over almost entirely to disaster relief and military flights after the Jan. 12 earthquake, which destroyed hundreds of buildings in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and killed 212,000 people.
The quake caused serious damage to the airport’s terminal. Crews have repaired airport lighting and the part of the terminal that the airlines will use, Burke said.
“On the 19th American Airlines will resume operations in the west portion of the terminal,” Burke said. “Structural engineers have checked out the terminal to make sure it’s safe and it is safe to operate out of, and they’re ready to go.”
