By the Caribbean Journal staff
St Croix, which was hit hard by Hurricane Maria, has taken a major step forward with the reopening of its Henry E. Rohlsen Airport for commercial flights.
The airport officially reopened on Thursday morning, with flights arriving from major carriers led by JetBlue, confirmed by the Virgin Islands Port Authority on Facebook.
American Airlines and JetBlue arrived on commercial flights from Miami and Fort Lauderdale, respectively.
Passengers checking in on Thursday.
Regional carriers including Cape Air and Sesaborne also relaunched relaunched its commercial service to St Croix on Thursday.
US Customs and TSA are fully functional, according to the Port Authority.
“VIPA thanks the U.S. and British military, federal and local government agencies, its contractors and its airline and airport tenant partners for their assistance in reopening HERA’s terminal two weeks after the territory was struck by its second Category 5 Hurricane in a single month,” the port authority said in a statement.
The news means that both of the US Virgin Islands’ major airports, in St Thomas and St Croix, are now open for commercial traffic. (St Thomas’ Cyril King Airport reopened last week).