Jardines del Rey Airport, airport in Cayo Coco, Cuba
Jardines del Rey Airport is an international airport on Cayo Coco, a small island off the northern coast of Cuba, receiving charter and commercial flights mainly from Europe and Canada. The terminal has check-in counters, security controls, a departure area, and a few small stands selling drinks and souvenirs.
The airport opened in the 1990s when Cuba began developing the northern cays as a tourism zone, partly in response to economic pressures following the collapse of Soviet support. It was built specifically to bring visitors directly to the resorts on Cayo Coco and neighboring Cayo Guillermo without passing through Havana.
The terminal sits very close to the beach resorts of Cayo Coco, so transfers to hotels are generally short. Most flights arrive as charters, so the terminal can feel crowded when several flights land at the same time, especially from December through April.
The name Jardines del Rey, meaning Gardens of the King, dates to the 16th century when Spanish explorers named the surrounding chain of cays in honor of the Spanish crown. Despite serving a modern resort destination, the airport carries this old colonial name from the earliest days of European exploration in the region.
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