Airport type Public Serves Cayenne Elevation AMSL 24 ft / 7 m Code CAY Phone +594 594 29 97 00 | Operator CCI Guyane Location Matoury, French Guiana 08/26 3,200 Elevation 8 m | |
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Address Matoury 97351, French Guiana Similar Ada, Hôtel La Marmotte, Logis Hôtel la Chaumière, Air Caraïbes Guyane, Logis La Chaumière | ||
Landing cayenne f lix ebou airport cay soca french guiana cockpit of b777 rwy08
Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (French: Aéroport de Cayenne – Félix Eboué) (IATA: CAY, ICAO: SOCA) is French Guiana's main international airport. It is located in the commune of Matoury, 13 km (8 mi) southwest of French Guiana's capital city of Cayenne. Its management is provided by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of French Guyana. Air Guyane Express has its head office on the airport property.
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History
The airfield of Cayenne was built in 1943 in 10 months by the American army who wanted to be able to reach Africa when flying there with its bombers. Very close to the aerodrome, one can find the former airfield "Gallion", used in 1943 and then quickly abandoned when using the new airport.
The name of Rochambeau is first attributed in reference Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, commander of the French troops who participated in the American Revolutionary War. It was purchased by France in 1949.
The name of Rochambeau creates controversy because of the bad reputation of the son of the dedicatee of the airport, Donatien-Marie-Joseph de Vimeur, vicomte de Rochambeau who during the Saint-Domingue expedition harshly repressed the Haitian Revolution. Member of the National Assembly of France for Guiana Christiane Taubira request a change of name in 1999. After the proposal of Cépérou (Indian chief of the 17th century), it was finally renamed in 2012 to the name of Félix Éboué which is retained and change became official in January 2012. The code for the airport remains CAY.
In 2009, passenger traffic totaled 400,025 passengers (+3.9%) compared to 2008 with 385,142 passengers.
Facilities
The airport has an elevation of 24 feet (7 m) above mean sea level. It has one paved runway, designated 08/26, which measures 3,200 by 45 metres (10,499 ft × 148 ft). It is open to public air traffic, international traffic and classified as Category A of section D. 222-2 of the Code of Civil Aviation and classified SSLIA in category 7 (rank A). The terminal has an area of 12,000 square metres.