Haiti’s main international airport reopens a month after gang gunfire forced it to close

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. 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.<br/>