Although flights from airlines such as Canada's SunWind and Russia's NorthWind have declined over the past five years, services to Miami, USA, are maintained; Cancun, Mexico; Port au Prince, Haiti and Aruba.
In 2023, the work went hand in hand with the airlines American Airlines, World Atlantic, Global Crossing, Viva Aerobus, Sunrise Airways, Aruba Airlines and Sky High.
A tour of the terminal by Prensa Latina enabled a conversation with Lisandra Díaz, head of the company's operations unit, who said that “approximately 25 flights arrive per week and therefore the preparation of staff is crucial.”
Although lines like Viva Airbus now only fly weekly or Fly Always from Suriname do not reach the region, “the work does not stop and we are the first line of safety,” he said.
He added that “our market has its strength in flights from the United States, Haiti and Mexico, so we must always be attentive and constant training of staff is key,” in his opinion.
He added that the difficulties with technical equipment “hinder the speed of the operations themselves, which we want to carry out in an hour, but that depends on the capacity of the aircraft.”
Regarding the security measures themselves, he warned: “First of all, when it comes to announcements about what you cannot take with you, there are procedures in the system, and the staff is also trained so that drug trafficking and even human trafficking do not occur.”
The terminal is also served once a month by Cuban partners from Caracas, Venezuela, and freighters arrive from the same country, “for which we also need better transport equipment.”
Díaz assured that the main difficulty lies in the number of bags that do not arrive on time and “the delay logically triggers complaints from customers. However, this is likely to improve in 2024 with the introduction of technologies to improve infrastructure.”
Among the main challenges of customs work at Camagüey Airport is ensuring the security of the country by not importing toxic substances, drugs and all items prohibited by import legislation.
María Teresa Veira, head of the customs terminal, said that many regulations have made imports and exports easier. Medicines, hygiene products and food are exempt from payment as long as they are separated from other goods to make work easier, but this also requires much more attention from our employees.
Importing and exporting is a risk for the customs directive. Preparation is always about preventing harmful objects from entering and endangering the country's security. For example, Resolution 23 of 2020 bans electronic cigarettes.
Regarding the country's zero tolerance policy towards drugs, he added: “It's a fact, our country wants healthy young people.” And these measures lead to encouraging the use of other substances. The electronic cigarette cannot be imported and is one of the situations that concerns us the most. Some people insist on it even though they know about the ban.”
Only in 2023, said Veira, were criminals discovered trying to smuggle traditional illegal substances, including cocaine, and fentanyl is fashionable in the United States, which is deadly and our duty is to fight with all means, to prevent it from reaching Cuba.
There is close cooperation, especially on American Airlines flights, even if the signs from the tourist side are very positive with the line.
Since 2022, 40 percent of travelers with US passports who come for a day to do excursion tourism in Cayo Cruz have arrived on Saturdays, also reported Bárbara Colina, representative of American Airlines in Camaguey.
This is a sign of the boom that the northern coast of the province has experienced, where various tour operators are working to promote it as a popular sun and beach destination in Cuba, and for this the Camagüey International Airport will already be an enclave of transcendental importance in 2024 . in tourism.
ode/fam