7 months after the suspension of air traffic in Port-au-Prince, the first Sunrise Airways flight took off on Thursday, June 12, from the Guy Malary terminal for Cap-Haïtien (north).

Carrying 19 passengers, it was the first flight of this type from Port-au-Prince since gang violence disrupted airport operations in November 2024.

The excited passengers hoped to be reunited with their friends, family, and business associates.

For now, only domestic flights have resumed, and no schedule has yet been set for international flights. Port-au-Prince's Toussaint Louverture Airport closed its doors in mid-November for the second time last year after gangs opened fire on a Spirit Airlines flight as it was preparing to land, slightly injuring a flight attendant. https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-43614-haiti-flash-spirit-airlines-plane-hit-in-flight-by-several-bullets-video.html . Other commercial aircraft were hit that day, forcing Spirit, JetBlue, and American Airlines to cancel their flights to Port-au-Prince. https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-43621-haiti-flash-us-airlines-banned-from-flying-over-haiti-for-30-days.html . None of these flights have resumed since. The resumption of domestic flights marks a rare success in Haiti's fight against gangs that control approximately 85% of Port-au-Prince.

IH/ HaitiLibre