PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) -Haiti's government on Wednesday celebrated the reopening of the capital's Toussaint Louverture International Airport, shut since last month, even as the U.S. aviation watchdog extended a ban on U.S. airlines flying there.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it would extend a ban on U.S. airlines flying in or out of the capital Port-au-Prince through March 12.
On Nov. 12, the FAA barred U.S. airlines from operating in Haiti for 30 days after three commercial jetliners were struck by gunfire. It later eased the ban to allow pilots to fly to airports in northern Haiti such as Cap-Haitien.
Haiti's aviation authority issued a brief post on Wednesday stating that the capital's airport was resuming normal operations, and its interim government said it had added new patrols and checkpoints around the airport.
"This decision is part of a strategic approach aimed at restoring a secure environment and relaunching economic activities," the government said in a statement, hailing the move as a "turning point" for the economy.
The closure of the key transport hub, for the second time this year, marked another blow to the Caribbean nation's economy as it battles extended gang violence that has seen over 700,000 people internally displaced and food insecurity sky-rocket.
Over the weekend, a gang operating in the impoverished port-side neighborhood of Cite Soleil ordered the massacre of around 180 largely elderly residents. Cite Soleil is located near the western end of Toussaint Louverture's runway.
(Reporting by Harold Isaac in Port-au-Prince and David Shepardson in Washington; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle and Sandra Maler)
