PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti's main international airport reopened on Wednesday to commercial flights, one month after gangs opened fire on planes. It was the second closing this year because of gang violence.
Soldiers and police, bolstered by Kenyan police leading a U.N.-backed mission to quell the violence, have boosted security in the area, and a test flight was successful, Haiti's government said in a statement.
''The resumption of commercial flights marks a turning point for the Haitian economy,'' the prime minister's office said.
However, there were no flights and no passengers Wednesday afternoon, with heavily armed police setting up checkpoints by the airport and stopping public transport. An airport parking lot normally packed with hundreds of cars had about several dozen vehicles, the majority belonging to employees.
An older Haitian man arrived at the airport late Wednesday morning, wanting to verify when he could fly out of Port-au-Prince, but there were no airline employees at any counter. He feared for his safety and declined to comment.
On Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration extended a ban on U.S. flights to Haiti's capital until March 12 out of safety.
The Toussaint Louverture airport in Port-au-Prince closed in mid-November after gangs opened fire on a Spirit Airlines flight that was preparing to land, striking a flight attendant who suffered minor injuries. Other commercial planes were hit that day, prompting Spirit, JetBlue and American Airlines to cancel their flights to Haiti. A day later, the FAA banned U.S. airlines from flying to the Caribbean country for 30 days.
The airport in Port-au-Prince had closed for nearly three months earlier this year after gangs launched coordinated attacks on key government infrastructure starting in late February. Gangs now control about 85% of the capital.
