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The history of Cuban aviation dates back to Domingo Rosillo and Agustín Parlá’s flights between Key West and Havana on May 17-19, 1913.
It his flight, Domingo Rosillo chose Campo Columbia —flat ground perfect for landing — as his landing spot. This ground then became the Army Aviation Corp headquarters and afterwards, the area became officially an accredited airport. This way, aircrafts from the first airlines that flew to Cuba landed there in the 1920s.
The foundation of CNCAC (National Company Cubana of Aviation Curtiss, Inc.) on October 8, 1929, brought about the need of a new airport facility that could shelter aircrafts from the emerging company and serve as the landing spot to foreign aircrafts in a civil-like facility.
The construction works, which had started a year earlier, came to fruition with the opening of a new terminal on February 24, 1930. The new airport facility, located very close to Rancho Boyeros neighborhood, was officially named General Machado in reference to the acting President, who played a major role in the construction of the facility.
The infrastructures built in both the terminal, meant for the passengers’ traffic, and the technical installations, were reported as state of the art and matched those similar in developed nations.
The fall of Gerardo Machado’s government, regarded as a tyrant two years later, made the airport change its official name and began to be popularly known as the Racho Boyeros’s airport. This facility gave testimony of the development reached by CNCAC, now known as Cubana de Aviación.
The airport was renamed José Martí International Airport in 1952.
Throughout its nine decades of operations, this major airport has been benefited from several infrastructure upgrades such as the lengthening of its runway up to 4,000 m, the building of taxiways, and three new passengers’ terminals, with Terminal 3 being the main one. Most of the aircrafts from airlines flying to Havana are welcomed in this Terminal.
The José Martí International Airport was the gateway for tourists who felt attracted by Cuba in the 1950s. Several airlines took over their transportation and Cubana de Aviación played a paramount role in the revival of Cuba as a tourist destination. It was Cuba’s main airport in the 1980s and 1990s, milestone shared now with other airports on the island.
The José Martí International Airport welcomed in 2016 a record number of 4,870,414 travelers who landed in 49,295 aircrafts from 45 different airlines operating in its facilities.
Afterward, on October 8th, it was founded today’s Cubana de Aviacion S.A., which turns 90 this year. In its early days, the company was reg. will celebrate its 90th anniversary in 2019. It is one of the oldest airlines in the world. When it was founded, it ranked 30th. It ranks 17th nowadays after the disappearance of older ones.