Miami Cargo Carrier Helps Test New Airport in Les Cayes

Miami cargo carrier helps Haiti test new airport as domestic service resumes

Miami Herald

By Jacqueline Charles

Miami-based cargo carrier IBC Airways conducted a test flight Thursday to Haiti’s southern coast, landing at the Antoine Simon International Airport in the southwestern port city of Les Cayes. The flight coincided with the first regular commercial domestic service into Port-au-Prince in seven months and marked the first time a U.S.-based carrier other than a private aircraft, charter or foreign registered drug running aircraft, touched down in the southern city in recent memory. In May, Haiti’s transitional council inaugurated a newly renovated Les Cayes airport after extending its runway from 1,300 meters in length to 1,800 meters with a width of 25 meters in order to accommodate certain international cargo and commercial flights. The moment was significant in that it paved the way for Thursday’s IBC Airways flight and possibly commercial air service from neighboring countries in the region.

Haiti has been largely isolated from the world due to its escalating gang violence, which has not only prompted countries like Canada and the United States to place it under its highest travel warning, but also made flying into Port-au-Prince dangerous. In a rare move, the government recently agreed to provide the additional insurance costs, worth of about $11 million, in order for local carrier Sunrise Airways can resume domestic flights. On Thursday, the Haitian-owned airline resumed domestic commercial service into Port-au-Prince. Some 19 passengers landed at Guy Malary terminal in the capital after boarding the flight in the northern port city of Cap-Haïtien. The airline also plans to operate flights between Port-au-Prince and Jacmel in the Southeast, and Jeremie in the Grand’Anse.

For Haiti, which has some of the highest taxes on international air travel, the lack of regular commercial and cargo fights from the U.S. has only added to the economic hardship. A newly opened international route would not only be a chance to pump life into parts of the country cut off by the gang violence gripping the capital and its surrounding communities, but it offers a chance to revive tourism in places like Jacmel and Port Salut. The southern beach towns have been on life support since armed groups, four years ago, began seizing control of its National Road No. 2, which connects the South to Port-au-Prince by road. For humanitarian aid groups, a new air route would also provide an opportunity to do away with the logistical nightmare that usually accompanies the shipment of medicines and other aid into the South, which is still struggling to recover from the 2021 deadly earthquake, and is now hosting tens of thousands of gang-fleeing refugees. “It will help restore access to essential medical supplies, humanitarian aid and economic resources—and most importantly, bring families and communities back together,” said Skyler Badenoch, chief executive officer of Hope for Haiti, a U.S. based nonprofit that provides healthcare in the South.

Named after the country’s 18th president, François C. Antoine, the Les Cayes airport is now Haiti’s third international airport after the main facility in Port-au-Prince and the Hugo Chavez International Airport in the city of Cap-Haïtien. If Haitian authorities succeed in getting international carriers and cargo airlines to provide service, they will provide a critical gateway into a region of the country that’s been shutoff. In January, members of the powerful Viv Ansanm gang coalition launched deadly attacks in Kenscoff, a lush farming community in the mountains above Port-au-Prince. In gaining a foothold in the region, they also seized control of the last open road to the South, a perilous trek through rugged terrain that allowed Haitians to access four different regions: the Southeast, Southwest, Nippes and Grand’Anse. Outside of risking one’s life through the gang controlled roads where motorists are required to pay hefty tolls, the only other way to access the area or Les Cay, has been via Cap-Haïtien. The northern port city hosts the only international airport able to accept regular commercial flights from the U.S. In November, the Federal Aviation Administration banned all U.S. commercial flights, and cargo liners like IBC from landing in Port-au-Prince after armed gangs opened fire on Spirit Airlines as it prepared to land, and two other airlines, JetBlue Airways and American Airlines also later reported being struck by gunfire.

All three airlines have delayed their return to the Caribbean nation while American, which has served Haiti for more than 50 years, closed its offices in Port-au-Prince and paid employees severance until December Although Haitian officials reopened the airport in December, restrictions by foreign nations against their carriers landing in Port-au-Prince have halted operations. They include restrictions by the United Kingdom, Canada, the Dominican Republic and France. On June 6, France extended its ban on carriers landing at Toussaint Louverture International Airport until at least Sept. 1. This leaves only Sunrise Airways providing a direct link between the country and the U.S. via Cap-Haïtien and Miami International Airport. In response to the resumption of domestic flights into Port-au-Prince, Osprey Flight Solutions, an aviation security firm, noted that the industry was “repeatedly” targeted by armed gangs last year and they twice forced the closure of Toussaint Louverture International Airport.

The security environment around the airport and its surrounding urban areas and Port-au-Prince in general, still remains highly volatile, the firm said in an analysis published after the government’s announcement. “Regular gang-related violence and confrontations have affected neighborhoods north and east of the airport and closed roads, including the [National Road No. 1], a main thoroughfare leading to the airport,” the security firm said in an analysis after the government and Sunrise Airways announced the restart of domestic flights into the capital. “Throughout March, gangs launched new offensives against communes of Port-au-Prince and its surroundings, including Kenscoff, forcing local authorities to move their offices. In April, the gangs targeted locations in the Centre department, taking control of Saut d’Eau and Mirebalais. “Of note, in the capital, it is estimated that more than 30 police stations and branches are under the control of the gangs, including in Martissant, the Bicentenaire, Portail Saint-Joseph, Portail Leogane and Cul-de-Sac, among many others,” the report said. “The near-daily attacks have further raised concerns that gang activity may soon overwhelm the capital.”

This story was originally published June 13, 2025 at 5:30 AM.

Jacqueline Charles Miami Herald 305-376-2616

Jacqueline Charles has reported on Haiti and the English-speaking Caribbean for the Miami Herald for over a decade. A Pulitzer Prize finalist for her coverage of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, she was awarded a 2018 Maria Moors Cabot Prize — the most prestigious award for coverage of the Americas.

Photo Credit: Miami Herald