The airport was turned over almost entirely to disaster relief and military flights after the January 12 earthquake, which destroyed hundreds of buildings in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and killed 212,000 people.
The quake caused serious damage to the airport's terminal. Crews have repaired airport lighting and
the part of the terminal that the airlines will use.
Air traffic control responsibilities, which were assumed by the U.S. military following the quake, are slowly being turned over to Haitian controllers. They are currently directing flights from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will expand those hours from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on February 19, Burke said.
At the peak of the disaster the airport had a capacity of 120 landings of military and relief aircraft daily. Those flights have dwindled to an average of about 70 daily in recent days.
The airfield is being run out of a portable control tower brought to Haiti by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
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