Cayo Coco Airport

active

The Cuban government awarded a six-year management contract to Spanish Aeropuertos Espanoles y Navegacion Aeria (AENA) to management the Cayo Coco International Airport. The contract was signed in 2000, but it was started to be effective in Mid 2001 when airport construction was scheduled to be finished. The airport facility was located in Cayo Coco, the central islet of a chain of islets known as King's Gardens, 450 to 500 kilometers east of the Havana. Cayo Coco was the first Cuban airport managed by a non-Republic of Cuba government-operated company. The contract included a US$ 21 million loan issued by Cataluna, Spanish-based Banco de Sabadell, to complete construction of the facility. The loan would be repaid from airport operation revenues and from a portion of the US$ 20 departure tax levied on passengers departing from Cuba. AENA is the Spanish state-owned enterprise that manages forty-three airport facilities in Spain as well as airports in Colombia and Mexico. The airport began operation in 2002 which began the effective date of the contract. As of December 2010, the airport was still operational.