Toussaint Louverture International Airport (, ) is an

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...

Tabarre Tabarre (; ) is a commune in the Port-au-Prince Arrondissement, in the Ouest department of Haiti. It is part of the urbanized area of Port-au-Prince, just northeast of the main part of the city, and next to Delmas. The Haitian government Auto ...

, a commune of

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

. The airport is currently the busiest in Haiti and is an operating hub for

Sunrise Airways Sunrise Airways S.A. is a Haitian regional airline founded in 2010 that provides scheduled passenger and charter flights. , the airline flies to nine domestic and international destinations and has a fleet size of ten. Sunrise Airways expanded i ...

. It is informally called "the Maïs-Gâté airport", named after the area in the Cul-de-Sac Plain where the airport was built.

History

Foundation and early years

During the

United States occupation of Haiti The United States occupation of Haiti began on July 28, 1915, when 330 United States Marine Corps, US Marines landed at Port-au-Prince, Republic of Haiti (1859–1957), Haiti, after the Citibank, National City Bank of New York convinced the ...

the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

stationed Marine Observation units using HS-1 and HS-2 aircraft in what later became Bowen Field (c. 1919). In 1942, the USMC was sent to Haiti to build a facility to service

Douglas O-38 The Douglas O-38 is an observation airplane used by the United States Army Air Corps in the 1930s and early 1940s. Between 1931 and 1934, Douglas built 156 O-38s for the Air Corps, eight of which were O-38Fs. Some were still in service at the t ...

aircraft used by Haiti Air Corps to observe Nazi German activity in the region. The USMC built Bowen Field (also known as Chancerelles Airport), a small civilian and military airport located near Chancerelles area near the Baie de Port-au-Prince. Bowen Field was used by Haiti Air Corps for mail (1943) and passenger (1944) services, then succeeded by the Compagnie haïtienne de transports aériens beginning in 1961. In the 1950s and the 1960s, it served as an airbase for the US military in Haiti. The current airport located further northeast of Bowen Field was developed with grant money from the US government and mostly money collected from Haitian people (taxes, lottery, etc.), opened as François Duvalier International Airport in 1965, after the Haitian president at the time,

François "Papa Doc" Duvalier François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * François-Marie Arouet (better known as Voltaire; 1 ...

. The old Bowen field was decommissioned after 1994 and is now hosts Internally Displaced Persons Camp and Centre Sportif. The runway is now part of Avenue Haile Selassie.

Development since the 2000s

Duvalier's son and successor,

Jean-Claude Duvalier Jean-Claude Duvalier (; 3 July 19514 October 2014), nicknamed "Baby Doc" (, ), was a Haitian dictator who held the presidency of Haiti from 1971 until he was overthrown by a popular uprising in February 1986. He succeeded his father François ...

, resigned in 1986. The airport was renamed Port-au-Prince International Airport. Haitian President

Jean Bertrand Aristide Jean-Bertrand Aristide (; born 15 July 1953) is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who became Haiti's first democratically elected president in 1991 before being deposed in a coup d'état. As a priest, he taught liberation theol ...

renamed the airport again as Toussaint Louverture International Airport in 2003 to honor

Toussaint Louverture François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (, ) also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda (20 May 1743 – 7 April 1803), was a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. During his life, Louvertu ...

, the leader of the

Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution ( or ; ) was a successful insurrection by slave revolt, self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolution was the only known Slave rebellion, slave up ...

. The airport was badly damaged by the

2010 Haiti earthquake The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake that struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (departm ...

. On 25 November 2012, Haitian President

Michel Joseph Martelly Michel Joseph Martelly (; born 12 February 1961) is a Haitian musician and politician who served as the 42nd president of Haiti from May 2011 until February 2016. On August 20, 2024, the United States sanctioned the former president for traffic ...

opened the newly repaired arrivals terminal. On 7 July 2021, following the

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

of Haitian President

Jovenel Moïse Jovenel Moïse (; ; 26 June 1968 – 7 July 2021) was a Haitian politician and Businessperson, businessman who served as President of Haiti from 2017 until Assassination of Jovenel Moïse, his assassination in 2021. Moïse assumed the preside ...

, the airport was closed and flights were sent back to their origins. The airport was attacked by gangs alongside the March 2024 Haitian jailbreak, preventing acting Prime Minister

Ariel Henry Ariel Henry (; born 6 November 1949) is a Haitian neurosurgeon and politician who served as the acting Prime Minister of Haiti, prime minister of Haiti from Assassination of Jovenel Moïse, the assassination of Jovenel Moïse in 2021 until his r ...

from returning to Haiti from overseas, and prompting the closure of the airport to commercial flights. By May 2024, authorities had nationalized space around the perimeter of the airport and torn down 350 buildings to increase security. The US military began flying cargo planes into the airport on 23 April and by mid-May had transported over 500 tons of material, including equipment for the Haitian National Police. During this time, civilian flights remained suspended. The airport was reopened for civilian airliners on 20 May, with Haitian passenger airline

and American cargo airline

Amerijet Amerijet International Airlines, Inc. is an American cargo airline headquartered in Miami, United States. The airline delivers air freight with its fleet of Boeing 767s from its main hub at the Miami International Airport to 48 destinations throu ...

restoring service to Miami. The airport closed again due to gang violence in November 2024. Commercial operations resumed on 12 June 2025, with a domestic Sunrise Airways flight heading to Cap-Haitien.

Facilities

Terminal

The main building of the airport works as the International Terminal. It is a two-story concrete and glass structure. Lounges and a few retail stores are on the second floor of the main building. Check-in counters, gates and immigration facilities are on the lower floor. The Guy Malary Terminal (named after former Haitian Justice Minister

Guy Malary Guy Malary (10 June 1943 – 14 October 1993) was a Justice Minister of Haiti, appointed by Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1991 and continuing in office under the post- 1991 Haitian coup d'état regime. IACHRREPORT Nº 78/02 / MERITS CASE 11.335 GUY MA ...

) is used for domestic flights. There are further buildings used for

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

and cargo flights. The airport has three

jet bridges A jet bridge is an enclosed connector which most commonly extends from an airport terminal gate to an airplane, and in some instances from a port to a boat or ship, allowing passengers to board and disembark without heading outside and being exp ...

, but most passengers walk onto aircraft from mobile stairs. The ramp area can handle 12 planes.

Expansion

The airport was to be re-designed completely by 2015. The re-making of the airport was to add 14 gates to the terminal and also will make the main passenger terminal bigger. As of 15 June 2016, a taxiway is under construction to increase traffic capacity, as taxiing aircraft currently must use the active runway to taxi to their takeoff position. Work is being performed by China National Automation Control System Corporation which has multiple large construction contracts with the Haitian government.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

As of March 2024 most flights are currently suspended due to the current political turmoil. The following airlines used to operate regular scheduled and charter services at the airport:

Cargo

Statistics

Access

The airport can be accessed by car (with parking space next to the terminal building) or by National Bus Route 1.

Accidents and incidents

* 8 September 1974: A Transportes Aéreos de Integración (TAISA)

Curtiss C-46 Commando The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a low-wing, twin-engine aircraft derived from the Curtiss CW-20 pressurized high-altitude airliner design. Early press reports used the name "Condor III" but the Commando name was in use by early 1942 in company p ...

impacted a mountain near Port-au-Prince because of engine failure. All four occupants were killed. * 3 March 1980: A

Learjet Learjet was a manufacturer of business jets for civilian and military use based in Wichita, Kansas, United States. Founded in the late 1950s by William Powell Lear as Swiss American Aviation Corporation, it became a subsidiary of Canadian Bomba ...

(N211MB) operating on a corporate charter flight on behalf of 'Merchant Bank' crashed in the hills on arrival at airport. One passenger and two crew members died. * 12 July 1980: A

Douglas C-47 The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for troo ...

crashed on approach, killing all three people on board. The aircraft was being used illegally to transport

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

. *15 September 1980, a JMG Inc.

Douglas DC-6 The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, Douglas reworked it after the war to compete ...

ditched into the ocean because of three engines being shut down because of running out of oil. All four occupants died. *7 December 1995: An Air St. Martin

Beechcraft 1900D The Beechcraft 1900 is a U.S made twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With customers favoring ...

aircraft (F-OHRK) hit a mountain at an altitude of , away from airport. Two crew members and 18 passengers (which were illegal immigrants to

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

) were killed. * 12 February 1996: A Haiti Express

GAF Nomad The GAF Nomad is a utility aircraft produced by the Government Aircraft Factories (GAF) of Australia in Melbourne. The twin-turboprop, high-wing aircraft has a retractable gear and came in two variants: the initial ''N22'', followed by the str ...

aircraft (N224E) crashed shortly after taking off. Two crew members and 8 passengers died. * 31 August 2007: A Caribintair

Cessna Grand Caravan The Cessna 208 Caravan is a utility aircraft produced by Cessna. The project was commenced on November 20, 1981, and the prototype first flew on December 9, 1982. The production model was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA ...

(HH-CAR) crashed shortly after takeoff away from the airport. There were no fatal injuries. * 11 September 2007: Only eleven days after the previous accident another plane crash of a Caribintair

(HH-CAW) occurred near the airport, this time upon landing short of the runway. * 26 May 2013: A

Brazilian Air Force The Brazilian Air Force (, FAB) is the air branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces and one of the three national uniformed services. The FAB was formed when the Brazilian Brazilian Army Aviation (1919–1941), Army and Brazilian Naval Aviation, Nav ...

KC-137 transport aircraft veered off the runway after an engine fire during takeoff, crashing into the grass next to the runway. The plane was carrying 121 Brazilian soldiers deployed to the UN stabilization force in Haiti (

MINUSTAH The United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (), also known as MINUSTAH, an acronym of its French name, was a UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti from 2004 to 2017. It was composed of 2,366 military personnel and 2,533 police, supported by int ...

) but no injuries were reported. Small aircraft were allowed to resume flying on Monday, but large aircraft that could not pass the KC-137 (mostly to/from the USA) were suspended for days. * 11 November 2024: A

Spirit Airlines Spirit Airlines, Inc. is an American ultra-low cost airline headquartered in Dania Beach, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. Spirit operates scheduled flights throughout the United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Spirit was the ...

A320neo The Airbus A320neo family is an incremental development of the A320 family of narrow-body airliners produced by Airbus. The A320neo family (''neo'' being Greek for "new", as well as an acronym for "new engine option") is based on the enhance ...

(N966NK), originating from Ft Lauderdale,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, was grazed by gang-related gunfire. After aborting its approach, Flight 951 diverted safely to

Cibao International Airport Cibao International Airport () , also known as Santiago Airport, is located in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic's second-largest city. It is the country's third-busiest airport by passenger traffic and aircraft movements, after Pun ...

(STI), Santiago, Dominican Republic. Crew onboard the aircraft were grazed by light arm fire but sustained no serious injuries. The aircraft was inspected, and damage was found to be consistent with arms fire. It is grounded in STI. Spirit,

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

and

JetBlue JetBlue Airways Corporation, stylized as jetBlue, is an American major airline headquartered in Long Island City, in Queens, New York City. Primarily a point-to-point carrier, JetBlue's network features six focus cities including its main hub ...

suspended service to the airport before the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

ordered all US carriers to avoid Haitian airspace for the next 30 days.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Airports in Haiti Buildings and structures in Port-au-Prince 2010 Haiti earthquake relief Airports established in 1965 1965 establishments in Haiti