airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...
serving
Holguín
Holguín (, ) is a municipality-city in Cuba. After Havana, Santiago de Cuba, and Camagüey, it is the List of cities in Cuba, fourth largest city in Cuba.
History
Before Christopher Columbus, Columbus, the Taino people settled in huts made fro ...
, a city in the Cuban province of
Holguín
Holguín (, ) is a municipality-city in Cuba. After Havana, Santiago de Cuba, and Camagüey, it is the List of cities in Cuba, fourth largest city in Cuba.
History
Before Christopher Columbus, Columbus, the Taino people settled in huts made fro ...
. It bears the name of Cuban revolutionary Frank País. The airport was built in 1962 initially only for military purposes before civilian air operations began in 1966. It consists of a domestic and an international terminal, which was built in 1996 and expanded in 2007.
History
The aviation history of Holguín originates in a makeshift runway built near the Hill of the Cross () in the city. Domingo Rosillo landed on this airstrip in 1914, one year after becoming the first pilot to fly between
Key West
Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it con ...
and
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. On this day, the airport served as one of several stops on the first
airmail
Airmail (or air mail) is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of at least one leg of its journey being by air. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send. Airmail may be th ...
route in Cuba, between Havana and
Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana.
The municipality extends over , and contains t ...
. The airport was located in the neighbourhood of Peralta and named after mambí General Julio Grave de Peralta. However, because there was often dense fog at the airport, it closed a few years afterward; and operations moved to another site close to the location of the current airport.
In 1962, a
military airbase
An airbase (stylised air base in American English), sometimes referred to as a military airbase, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base, is an aerodrome or airport used as a mi ...
was established on the outskirts of the city. Civilian air operations shifted to an area within the base on 10 November 1966, thus establishing Frank País Airport. As the tourism sector in Guardalavaca grew during the early 1990s, there was a need for a new international terminal, which was constructed in 1996 by Canadian infrastructure company Intelcan Technosystems. In 2007, the capacity of the terminal was doubled to 1,200 passengers per hour through a expansion, which took one year to complete. Carried out to reduce congestion in the terminal during peak season, the expansion included additional customs facilities and a new VIP lounge. The inauguration of the expanded facilities was presided over by politician and then future president of Cuba,
Miguel Díaz-Canel
Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (; born 20 April 1960) is a Cuban politician and engineer. He has served as the 8th First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba since 2021 and as the 17th president o ...
.
On 25 March 2020, it was announced that international flights from the airport were ceasing because of the coronavirus shutdown. Flights began again on 3 November 2020, with three flights.
Infrastructure
Terminals
Frank País Airport has two terminals, one serving domestic flights and the other international flights. The international terminal can handle up to 1,200 passengers per hour and has various
duty-free shop
A duty-free shop or store is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, who will ...
s, restaurants and car rental agencies as well as a VIP lounge.
Airfield
Frank País Airport has a single runway, 05/23, which has dimensions and is equipped with an instrument landing system. Data current as of October 2006. The
apron
An apron is a garment worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body to protect from liquids. They have several purposes, most commonly as a functional accessory that protects clothes and skin from stains and marks. However, other typ ...
in front of the passenger terminal has six parking stands.
Military usage
Built during the
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
, the airbase is one of the most important in the country, housing large barracks and bunkers for
fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...
. The base is located on the north side of the airport and has its own apron.
The Central Highway () connects Frank País Airport to the city of Holguín, which lies about to the northeast. The beaches of the Costa Holguinera resort of Guardalavaca, Playa Esmeralda, Playa Pesquero, and Playa Blanca are situated at 1 hour travel and is a reason
Canadian
Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
and
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...