Jardines del Rey Airport ( es, Aeropuerto de Jardines del Rey) 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 ...

situated on the island of Cayo Coco, part of the Cuban province of Ciego de Ávila. It takes its name from the

Jardines del Rey Jardines del Rey ( en, Gardens of the King) is an archipelago off the northern coast of Cuba, in the northern parts of the provinces of Ciego de Ávila and Camagüey. Overview Jardines del Rey developed on the coral reef system that lines Cuba's ...

archipelago, which includes Cayo Coco. Inaugurated in December 2002, the airport was built to better serve tourists to the island, who previously had to arrive at Máximo Gómez Airport about to the south. Jardines del Rey Airport is the only airport in Cuba managed in part by a foreign company;

Aena ENAIRE is the air navigation manager in Spain, certified for the provision of en route, approach and aerodrome control services. As a public corporate entity attached to the Spanish Ministry of Public Works, it is responsible for air traffic co ...

and ECASA jointly operate the airport. It receives well over 200,000 passengers per year, most of whom are foreign tourists from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Thomas Cook Airlines G-CHTZ at Cayo Coco, June 2016

History

In the early 1990s, the Cuban government began to develop the tourism sector in Cayo Coco, and several resorts were constructed. To reach Cayo Coco, tourists had to fly to Máximo Gómez Airport on the mainland and then take a one-hour bus ride to the island. In order to make travel to Cayo Coco more convenient, the Cuban government announced in 1999 that it would build a new airport on the island itself. Environmentalists disapproved of the site selected for the airport, but the government responded that the site was located in a zone already designated for infrastructure development. Meanwhile, the existing Cayo Coco Airport on the island, situated in a more environmentally sensitive area, would be demolished and reforested. Construction of the airport commenced in January 2000. Later in the year, Spanish airports company

signed a contract with the Cuban government to build and operate the new airport, thus becoming the first foreign entity to manage a Cuban airport. Management is shared with the Cuban company ECASA. The first phase of the project was completed in early 2002, which encompassed the construction of the runway, taxiways,

apron An apron is a garment that is worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body. The word comes from old French ''napron'' meaning a small piece of cloth, however over time "a napron" became "an apron", through a linguistics process cal ...

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

tower and a temporary terminal with a capacity for 150 passengers. The airport was officially inaugurated on 26 December 2002 upon the completion of a larger terminal, which brought the airport's annual capacity to 1.2 million passengers. The airport suffered major damage from

Hurricane Irma Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread destruction across its path in September 2017. Irma was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Maria two ...

in September 2017. Authorities proceeded with a significant renovation of the terminal, rebuilding the walls with concrete so that they can better withstand such conditions in the future. In addition, new stores were built and a centralized air-conditioning system was installed. Jardines del Rey Airport was able to reopen in early November 2017, in time for the start of the winter tourist season.

Infrastructure

Terminal

The terminal is in size and can handle 600 passengers per hour. Its amenities include two VIP lounges, a snack bar, restaurant,

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 sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, wh ...

s and a currency exchange booth.

Airfield

Jardines del Rey Airport has a single runway, 08/26, which measures and is equipped with an

instrument landing system In aviation, the instrument landing system (ILS) is a precision radio navigation system that provides short-range guidance to aircraft to allow them to approach a runway at night or in bad weather. In its original form, it allows an aircraft to ...

. The apron has three parking spaces and is connected to the runway by two taxiways.

Airlines and destinations

Access

Jardines del Rey Airport is much closer to the resorts on Cayo Coco than Máximo Gómez Airport, which previously served the island. A causeway links the airport and the rest of Cayo Coco to the Cuban mainland.

References

External links

{{authority control Airports in Cuba Buildings and structures in Ciego de Ávila Province Airport Jardines del Rey, Cayo Coco Airports established in 2002 2002 establishments in Cuba