For next March, the Enrique A. Jiménez Airport could receive the first charter flight from Cuba, as announced by national authorities and the province of Colón, during an inspection tour of the facilities of this air terminal.
This terminal has been closed since it was reopened on August 30, 2013, and during the past administration of President Varela it was used as the headquarters of a special police unit called “Águila”.
The manager of the Colon Free Zone, Geovani Ferrari, stressed that “the tour served to see on the ground the priority needs of the airport, so that the first passenger flight can be received in the best conditions, “there is work to be done and the government institutions have put their best intentions and are going to put the bare minimum”
He indicated that, “they want to start with a pilot plan, with a charter flight next March from Cuba, but that, if there are plans to increase the frequency to different destinations”, for his part, the Minister of Security Juan Pino assured that the intention of the national government is to revive and recover the operation of this port terminal and the planning of the management of the Free Zone so that it becomes part of the multimodal model, which allows the arrival of buyers to this free zone.
For the Governor of Colón, Iracema Ayarza de Dale, the commissioning of the Enrique A. Jiménez airport will represent a great boost to the local economy, through the hiring of an important handful of colonenses workers, for the transport of passengers, hotels, local commerce and others.
This airport has modern facilities, in addition to a new Control Tower and the extension of the runway to 2,700 linear meters, which will allow the arrival of Boeing 757-200 type aircraft with a capacity of up to 228 passengers on charter flights, which represents a benefit for this province that will receive the arrival of national and international flights.
