The Haitian government signed a deal with Venezuela for the airport to be renovated. On September 13, 2010, a 1,300 m (4,265 ft) concrete runway was being built by Haitian firms and personnel working under the supervision of a Cuban-Venezuelan firm.[3] The extended 7,500 ft runway was completely repaved in October 2012, with the rest of the reconstruction finished by February 2013. Part of the work consisted of rerouting a road around the airstrip that had previously bisected it.[4]
On 18 April 2013, a spokesman for Haitian Prime MinisterLaurent Lamothe announced that the airport will be renamed to "Hugo Chávez International Airport" in honour of the late Venezuelan President, a day before Haitian PresidentMichel Martelly was scheduled to attend Nicolás Maduro's inauguration ceremony in Caracas. A statement by the Prime Minister's spokesman Gary Bodeau said "President Chávez has done his best to help Haiti in the most difficult times. He has contributed over $1 billion to assist Haiti and is beloved by the Haitian people. As a tribute to him, and for his work to Haiti, we have decided to name the airport in Cap-Haïtien in his honor."[5] However, plans to rename the airport fell through.
The airport resides at an elevation of 10 ft (3 m) above mean sea level. It had previously one runway designated 05/23 with an asphalt surface measuring 1,489 m × 40 m (4,885 ft × 131 ft).[1] The runway was extended to 2,286 m (7,500 ft) and completely repaved in a two-year reconstruction that finished in February 2013, with the actual runway opening in October 2012, although the change was not immediately made on the DAFIF database.
^ abc"Airport information for MTCH". World Aero Data. Archived from the original on 2019-03-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) Data current as of October 2006. Source: DAFIF.