Jardines del Rey International Airport - CCC

The Jardines del Rey airport is a small-size international airport located on the Eastern end of the Coco Cay island which is part of the « Jardines del Rey » (King’s garden) archipelago off the north coast of Cuba (province of Ciego de Avila).

It was inaugurated on December 26, 2002, replacing the earlier domestic Cayo Coco Airport 10 km to the west. The former runway was incorporated in the road heading west connecting Cayo Coco with Cayo Guillermo, some runway markings and taxiways remain visible. The old airport terminal building is now part of “Parque Natural El Baga” (a national park and protected zone.)

Runway improvements began in the fall of 2022 to accommodate aircraft with more than 300 passengers. To do this, 11,000 tonnes of asphalt were used to lay out the 3,000 meter long by 25 meter wide runway. It should be noted that an additional 8,000 tonnes are planned for 2023. The airport hosts around fifty flights per week.

The "Aeropuerto Jardines del Rey" serves mainly the popular resort destinations of Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo; and soon to be developed Cayo Paredon and Cayo Cruz. Before December 2002, large aircrafts had to land at the Ciego de Avila airport which is 1½ hour away from Cayo Coco and 2 hours away from Cayo Guillermo. With the new Jardines del Rey international airport transfer time was greatly reduces, 10 to 20 minutes to get to Cayo Coco resorts, and 40 to 45 minutes to get to Cayo Guillermo resorts.

The island of Cayo Coco is connected to the main island of Cuba by a 17-km causeway (Pedraplen in Spanish), therefore the Cayo Coco Jardines del Rey airport can also serves the north-central regions of Cuba (such as Ciego de Avila, Moron, Sancti Spiritu, etc.). The airport also handles domestic flights operated by Aerocaribbean and Aerogaviota.

The airport has only one terminal building which is air-conditioned and non-smoking, expect in one designated area. For more information click the Airport Facilities links in the left menu. There’s no jet-bridges, mobile staircases are used for embarking and disembarking passengers onto the tarmac. This airport is the only one in Cuba that has a shared administration: the Cuban organisation ECASA
(Empresa Cubana de Aeropuertos y Servicios Aeronáuticos S.A.) with the Spanish company AENA (Aeropuertos Espanoles y Navegacion Aerea).

USEFUL WEBSITES:

Cayo Coco Travel Guide
Cayo Guillermo Travel Guide
Cayo Paredon Travel Guide
Cayo Cruz Travel Guide

For more information about this airport, facilities, formalities, ground transportation, arrivals/departures, photos, etc., please click the links in the left menu.