José Martí International Airport (HAV)

History

1. 1929

   Construction is authorized under President Gerardo Machado, on the Boyeros plains south of Havana.

2. Feb 1930

   The airport opens as “General Machado,” after the sitting president. Cubana de Aviación soon flies mail and long-distance routes.

3. ~1933

   After Machado's government falls, the name is dropped; the field becomes known as Rancho Boyeros.

4. 1943

   Cuba's first control tower is installed here.

5. 1952

   Officially renamed José Martí International Airport.

6. 1998

   Terminal 3, the modern international terminal, opens (architect Mario Girona).

7. 2022

   Handles ~9.65 million passengers — still the dominant gateway, but with aging terminals and slow queues.

Named after

José Martí (1853–1895) — Cuba's national hero: poet, journalist and the intellectual leader of the independence movement. Exiled for years (much of it in New York), he founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party in 1892 and was killed at the Battle of Dos Ríos in 1895. Verses from his Versos Sencillos became the lyrics of “Guantanamera.”

Where it stands

Cuba's principal international and domestic gateway, concentrating nearly all inbound arrivals through Havana. It handled ~9.65 million passengers in 2022, but draws persistent complaints over queues, aging terminals and baggage handling; Terminal 3 is now more than two decades old.