Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport Aéroport de Cayenne – Félix Eboué |
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Summary | |||||||||||
Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
Operator | CCI Guyane | ||||||||||
Serves | Cayenne | ||||||||||
Location | Matoury, French Guiana | ||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 24 ft / 7 m | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 04°49′11″N 52°21′43″W / 4.81972°N 52.36194°WCoordinates: 04°49′11″N 52°21′43″W / 4.81972°N 52.36194°W | ||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||
Location in French Guiana | |||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||
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Statistics (2014) | |||||||||||
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Passengers | 446,039 |
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Passenger traffic change | 2.1% |
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.
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.