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Miami Herald
16-07-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
New southern Haiti seaport, renovated airport spark Haitian trade mission to Miami
A new international port and an extended airport runway in Haiti's southern region are spawning hope of new trade and investment opportunities between South Florida and the Caribbean nation. That's the goal of a group of business leaders and investors from Haiti making the rounds in South Florida on Wednesday and Thursday to meet with key executives from the Port of Miami, Miami International Airport, the Beacon Council and the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. The visit comes as South Florida-based IBC Airways attempts to enter the Haitian market with charter and cargo service into the coastal city of Les Cayes. Jeff Lozama, a South Florida resident originally from Haiti's southwest area, says he's hoping the visit will yield greater connections and business opportunities for the region, which in January inaugurated the new International Port of Saint Louis du Sud and then three months later opened an extended runway at Antoine Simon Airport in the coastal city of Les Cayes. Both projects were carried out by the country's transitional government which, unable to make a dent in the crippling gang crisis, decided to focus on trying to boost the local economy of the southern region by bringing the two major infrastructure projects to fruition after years of being shelved by previous governments. In the case of the airport, which is named after a Haitian president who led a rebellion in the early 1900s, its 4,200-foot runway was finally extended to 6,000 feet after years of failed promises to accommodate some international flights. Last month, IBC Airways conducted a test flight, fueling hope that the region will be open to tourists once more. But despite reportedly having permits to conduct cargo and charter passenger flights for the southern airport, IBC has run into problems, leading the head of Haiti's National Airport Authority to take to the radio on Wednesday to refute accusations that the company was being blocked from entering the Haitian market. 'We are always ready to talk, to negotiate with anyone who comes with a permit,' Yves Ducarmel François, the director general of the airport authority, said on Port-au-Prince's Magik 9. 'We don't give permits, and whoever has permits we will accommodate them. Our job is to give people space so they can work.' François said a French firm is currently conducting a study on behalf of the airport authority to evaluate how the Antoine Simon Airport can become a true international airport capable of receiving Airbus jets carrying as many as 300 passengers. Also, the airport authority is preparing to sign an agreement with the private sector to have the airport operated as a public-private partnership. The airport currently receives about 180 passengers a day, all of whom come in on domestic flights operated by local carrier Sunrise Airways. A major challenge at the Les Cayes airport, François said, is its lack of space to accommodate international travelers. Regulations don't allow for domestic and international passengers to fly out of the same space, François said. 'The infrastructure has to respond to the norms,' he said. François said airport authority staffers were sent to Les Cayes to see how they could accommodate IBC Airways, and he's currently 'awaiting IBC so we can put the infrastructure in place' to assure passengers' safety. In the meantime, Lozama is hoping lessons can be learned from Miami-Dade County. 'We are trying to have very good business transactions … and connect our business environment with that of Miami-Dade County,' said Lozama, a member of the International Trade Consortium, which organized the visit. Lozama says he's not just hoping for trade and investments but he is also looking for an exchange of ideas as Haitians meet their Miami counterparts in maritime, logistics and airport infrastructure. Among those from Haiti expected to be part of the trade mission: Jocelin Vilier, the head of the National Port Authority; Jean Nathan Letang, the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Industry of Southern Haiti, and Cosy Joseph, an IT professional who worked in the U.S. and now heads Ideal Group S.A., which invests in agriculture and poultry farming. Joseph also sits on the board of the Chamber of Commerce of Women entrepreneurs and Professionals of Southern Haiti. Also joining the group will be experts in maritime and ports logistics, international consultancy and the head of the Collective of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the Grand South. In addition to making connections, the visit will also offer opportunities to learn from Miami-Dade's experience in managing large-scale infrastructure projects and exchange ideas on development strategies in Les Cayes. Gerard Philippeaux, the executive director of the Miami-Dade International Trade Consortium, said he's confident of the mission's success. 'The Miami-Dade business community has international experience and will embrace the opportunities presented to them,' said Philippeaux. 'I applaud the members of this Haitian delegation for their fortitude in showcasing all the business and investment possibilities in existence in the southern region of Haiti.' While the Les Cayes airport is a government initiative, the port is a private venture. The vision of Pierre Leger, an agronomist and leading investor before his death in February at age 77, and Ann Hauge, an American who has been involved in Haiti for decades, the International Port of Saint Louis du Sud was finally inaugurated in January when the transitional government signed the necessary agreements to make it operational. The $6.5 million port can accommodate vessels up to 490 feet in length. Since its inauguration the southern port has received several ships including a vessel delivering cement from Panama and another with rice from Cap-Haïtien in the north. Though questions remain about the government's ability to put in place the proper security measures to prevent a possible gang incursion, the port is viewed as a positive development in a region where people are desperate for access to the outside world. On the day of the inauguration, Hauge called for support for the port in encouraging 'the economy of the Greater South to be unblocked without gangs, without insecurity.' The Great South encompasses four regional departments in Haiti: the South/ Southwest, Southeast, Grande'Anse and Nippes. According to the United Nations International Organization for Migration, the four areas are home to more than 497,000 people who have been forced to flee their homes by gangs. Unlike Port-au-Prince, which has been almost completely overtaken by armed gangs, the southern regions of Haiti remain relatively calm. Still, the gang crisis in the capital has led to the south's isolation— and a higher cost of living for residents as major roads and tourism remain cut off by the gangs. In 2021, Les Cayes and other nearby cities were struck by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that killed more than 2,200 people and caused widespread destruction. Nearly four years later, the region of rolling green mountains and vast farmland still has not fully recovered.
NBC News
11-03-2025
- NBC News
FAA extends bar on U.S. flights to Port-au-Prince through September 8
The Federal Aviation Administration said on Tuesday it was extending prohibitions barring U.S. flights to the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince through September 8, citing risks from armed gangs to civil aviation. In November, the FAA temporarily halted all flights to Haiti but later allowed U.S. flights to resume to six airports in northern Haiti after three U.S. commercial jetliners were struck by gunfire. The restrictions had been set to expire Wednesday. The agency last year allowed American carriers and general aviation pilots to resume flights to six airports in Haiti: Port-de-Paix, Cap-Haitien, Pignon, Jeremie, Antoine-Simon and Jacmel. Last week, the Antoine Simon Airport in the southwestern coastal city of Les Cayes opened with expanded facilities to receive international flights. The FAA said on Tuesday that armed gangs continue to control large portions of the capital and have used small arms to fire on civilian aircraft, helicopters and airports that damaged multiple aircraft and injured an air crew member. The FAA said Haitian gangs 'possess small arms, including high-caliber rifles and machine guns, posing risks primarily to aircraft on the ground, during low-altitude flight operations and during the approach/departure phases of flight.'
NBC News
06-03-2025
- Business
- NBC News
Airport in southwest Haiti ready for international flights after violence halts flights to capital
An airport in southwestern Haiti is ready to receive international flights for the first time, officials said Wednesday, adding a safer option for commercial airlines that have halted all flights to the main airport in Port-au-Prince, where gang violence persists. The Antoine Simon Airport in the coastal city of Les Cayes, named after a Haitian president who led a rebellion in the early 1900s, operated for almost two decades before renovations began in 2013 to extend its runway. It is now Haiti's third international airport, a development that is expected to boost the local economy and provide a new way for some nonprofits to distribute sorely needed aid. 'It's really exciting,' said Wynn Walent, executive director of the Colorado-based nonprofit Locally Haiti, which operates in Haiti's southwest. 'For understandable reasons, folks are focused on the challenges in Port-au-Prince, but there is so much that can be done in the south. This could be a big step in that direction.' Hugh Aprile, Mercy Corps' regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean, celebrated the new runway, saying it's possible more organizations will base their teams in Les Cayes instead of Port-au-Prince. 'Much of the needs are in the southern peninsula,' he said. 'For us, this will be helpful.' Leslie Voltaire, president of Haiti's transitional presidential council, traveled to Les Cayes to unveil the renovated airport Wednesday, saying it would help develop sectors including tourism. 'Infrastructure is the basis of a country's economic development,' he said. Most people traveling to Haiti land at the international airport in the north coastal city of Cap-Haitien, then travel by land or helicopter to the capital. The Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince remains open but commercial flights have been halted since gangs opened fire on three planes in November, slightly injuring a flight attendant. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration extended a ban on U.S. flights to Haiti's capital until March 12. It wasn't immediately clear if U.S. commercial flights will use the redeveloped airport, nor if any international flights have landed yet on the extended runway at Les Cayes. Local media reported that technicians from the U.S. airline JetBlue arrived in Les Cayes to inspect the runway. However, a company spokesman told The Associated Press that JetBlue doesn't have any record of making such a trip to inspect the runway, and that it has decided to suspend all flights to Haiti through at least June 11 'due to the ongoing civil unrest.' Martine Villeneuve, country director for Action Against Hunger, celebrated the renovated airport but noted it came too late for her organization. Action Against Hunger was targeted by the recent USAID cuts and was forced to eliminate a nutrition and feeding program that served 13,000 people in Haiti's rural northeast and south. Now, the organization is focused on helping people in Port-au-Prince and the central Artibonite region. 'We are trapped in Port-au-Prince,' she said. 'It's very difficult to get in and out.'
The Independent
06-03-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Haiti's southwest airport accepts international flights for first time after violence halts trips to capital
An airport in southwestern Haiti is ready to receive international flights for the first time, officials said Wednesday, adding a safer option for commercial airlines that have halted all flights to the main airport in Port-au-Prince, where gang violence persists. The Antoine Simon Airport in the coastal city of Les Cayes, named after a Haitian president who led a rebellion in the early 1900s, operated for almost two decades before renovations began in 2013 to extend its runway. It is now Haiti 's third international airport, a development that is expected to boost the local economy and provide a new way for some nonprofits to distribute sorely needed aid. 'It's really exciting,' said Wynn Walent, executive director of the Colorado-based nonprofit Locally Haiti, which operates in Haiti's southwest. 'For understandable reasons, folks are focused on the challenges in Port-au-Prince, but there is so much that can be done in the south. This could be a big step in that direction.' Hugh Aprile, Mercy Corps ' regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean, celebrated the new runway, saying it's possible more organisations will base their teams in Les Cayes instead of Port-au-Prince. 'Much of the needs are in the southern peninsula,' he said. 'For us, this will be helpful.' Leslie Voltaire, president of Haiti's transitional presidential council, traveled to Les Cayes to unveil the renovated airport Wednesday, saying it would help develop sectors including tourism. 'Infrastructure is the basis of a country's economic development,' he said. Most people traveling to Haiti land at the international airport in the north coastal city of Cap-Haitien, then travel by land or helicopter to the capital. The Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince remains open but commercial flights have been halted since gangs opened fire on three planes in November, slightly injuring a flight attendant. The US Federal Aviation Administration extended a ban on US flights to Haiti's capital until March 12. It wasn't immediately clear if US commercial flights will use the redeveloped airport, nor if any international flights have landed yet on the extended runway at Les Cayes. Local media reported that technicians from the U.S. airline JetBlue arrived in Les Cayes to inspect the runway. The company did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Martine Villeneuve, country director for Action Against Hunger, celebrated the renovated airport but noted it came too late for her organization. Action Against Hunger was targeted by the recent USAID cuts and was forced to eliminate a nutrition and feeding program that served 13,000 people in Haiti's rural northeast and south. Now, the organisation is focused on helping people in Port-au-Prince and the central Artibonite region. 'We are trapped in Port-au-Prince,' she said. 'It's very difficult to get in and out.' Gangs control 85 per cent of the capital as well as all the main roads leading to the country's north and south. ___ Associated Press reporter Evens Sanon in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, contributed.
Washington Post
06-03-2025
- Washington Post
Airport in southwest Haiti ready for international flights after violence halts flights to capital
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — An airport in southwestern Haiti is ready to receive international flights for the first time, officials said Wednesday, adding a safer option for commercial airlines that have halted all flights to the main airport in Port-au-Prince, where gang violence persists. The Antoine Simon Airport in the coastal city of Les Cayes, named after a Haitian president who led a rebellion in the early 1900s, operated for almost two decades before renovations began in 2013 to extend its runway.
