Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport

Cayenne – Félix Éboué Airport (French: Aéroport de Cayenne – Félix Éboué, IATA: CAY, ICAO: SOCA) is French Guiana's main international airport. It is located near the commune of Matoury, 13 kilometres (8 mi) southwest of French Guiana's capital city of Cayenne. It is managed by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of French Guiana (CCI Guyane).[1]

Cayenne – Félix Éboué Airport

formerly Rochambeau Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorChamber of Commerce and Industry of Guiana[1]
ServesCayenne, French Guiana
LocationMatoury
Elevation AMSL26 ft / 8 m
Coordinates04°49′11″N 52°21′43″W / 4.81972°N 52.36194°W / 4.81972; -52.36194
Websiteguyane.aeroport.fr
Map
CAY is located in French Guiana
CAY
CAY
Location in French Guiana
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
08/26 3,205 10,515 Asphalt
Statistics (2023)
Passengers481,961
Passenger traffic changeDecrease 1.4%
Aircraft movements5,265
Aircraft movements changeDecrease 20.2%
Source : Aeroport.fr,[2] French AIP,[3] UAF,[4] DAFIF[5][6]

Air Guyane Express has its headquarters on the airport property.[7]

History

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The first airfield at Cayenne, called "Gallion," was built in 1943 in ten months by the U.S. Army Air Corps as a base allowing bombers to reach Africa. Though quickly abandoned upon the completion of the new airport, it can still be found very close to the aerodrome.

The new airport was first given the name "Rochambeau" in reference to Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, commander-in-chief of the French troops in the American Revolutionary War.[8] It was purchased by France in 1949.

This name was controversial because the airport's namesake's son, Donatien-Marie-Joseph de Vimeur, vicomte de Rochambeau, harshly repressed the Haitian Revolution during the Saint-Domingue expedition. Christiane Taubira, then-Member of the National Assembly of France for Guiana, requested in 1999 that the name be changed. Multiple proposals were submitted, including Cépérou, a seventeenth-century indigenous chief. It was finally renamed Félix Éboué Airport in 2012, the change becoming official in January of that year.[9][10] The code for the airport remains CAY.[11]

Félix Eboué Airport serves approximately 400,000 passengers per year.[12]

Facilities

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The airport has an elevation of 24 feet (7 m) above mean sea level. It has one paved runway.[3] It is open to public air traffic and international air traffic.

Airlines and destinations

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AirlinesDestinations
Air Caraïbes Paris–Orly
Air France Belém,[13] Fort-de-France, Paris–Charles de Gaulle,[14] Pointe-à-Pitre, St. Maarten[15]
Air Guyane Express Camopi, Grand Santi, Maripasoula, Saint-Laurent du Maroni, Saül
Sky High Santo Domingo–Las Américas

Statistics

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Annual passenger traffic at CAY airport. See Wikidata query.
Passengers[16]
2000 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
457 168 375 844 374 394 386 979 385 142 400 025 423 849 435 440 495 994

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b CCI Guyane
  2. ^ "Résultats d'activité des aéroports français 2018" (PDF). aeroport.fr. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  3. ^ a b SOCA – Cayenne Félix Eboué. AIP from French Service d'information aéronautique, effective 28 November 2024. CAR SAM NAM
  4. ^ "Aéroport de Cayenne – Rochambeau" (in French). L'Union des Aéroports Français. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  5. ^ Airport information for SOCA[usurped] from DAFIF (effective 26 October 2006)
  6. ^ Airport information for CAY at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
  7. ^ "Directory: World airlines." Flight International. 16–22 March 2004. 65.
  8. ^ "CCI Guyane - Aéroport / Accueil". Archived from the original on 11 November 2008.
  9. ^ Laurent Marot (21 January 2012). "Guyana found memory by changing the name of the airport". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  10. ^ order of 4 January 2012, J.O. 8 January 2012, NOR TRAA1200009A, http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000025114748
  11. ^ Stéphanie Bouillaguet (17 January 2012). "Rochambeau has already become Félix-Éboué". France-Guiana. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  12. ^ "Cayenne airport". Aeroports Voyages. Retrieved 22 July 2018. Comprising of a single terminal building, the airport handles roughly 400,000 passengers per year.
  13. ^ "GOL / Air France Codeshare Routes Expansion From May 2024". Aeroroutes.
  14. ^ "Air France NS24 Cayenne Service Adjustment". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  15. ^ "AIR: Air France opens a new line between Pointe-à-Pitre and Sint Maarten | FAXINFO | SXM Talks". 25 October 2023.
  16. ^ Source : Site de l'UAF Archived 29 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
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  Media related to Cayenne-Félix-Éboué Airport at Wikimedia Commons