Kawama Airport ( es, Aeropuerto "Kawama" ) is an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

serving Varadero, in the Matanzas Province in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

History

Kawama Airport was the original international airport serving Varadero. It served over 330,000 Cubans who fled the country for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

during the

Freedom Flights Freedom Flights (known in Spanish as ''Los vuelos de la libertad'') transported Cubans to Miami twice daily, five times per week from 1965 to 1973. Its budget was about $12 million and it brought an estimated 300,000 refugees, making it the "larg ...

. However, as the tourism sector in the region developed, Kawama Airport grew too close to the beaches and resorts, creating noise issues for visitors. In addition, the nearby hotel developments would hinder attempts at expanding the airport. As a result, the new Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport opened in 1989 to replace Kawama Airport. Most flights operated out of Kawama Airport now are operated by Aerogaviota and ENSA. These are most commonly skydiving charters for tourists and charters for media, among others.

Airlines

Aerogaviota Aerogaviota is an airline based in Havana, Cuba. It operates domestic flights within Cuba as well as flights from Cuba to Jamaica. Its main base is Playa Baracoa, Havana,Flight International 27 March 2007 although it occasionally flies out of an ...

- chartered flights only

Facilities

The airport is at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...

of above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value (magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the '' ari ...

. It has one

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concre ...

designated 06/24 with an

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...

surface measuring . The airport is remnant of the old Varadero airport which was replaced by the new international Varadero airport in the 90's. The runway was shortened and now is used only for small aircraft for touristic and sport purpose. The disused section of the runway is still used for aircraft reaching the north tarmac.

References

Airports in Cuba Cárdenas, Cuba Buildings and structures in Matanzas Province {{Caribbean-airport-stub