PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) -- The first commercial flight to arrive in Haiti since the January 12 earthquake touched down in Port-au-Prince to a warm welcome yesterday, but with many passengers carrying a heavy emotional load.

The American Airlines flight from Miami came to a stop at the terminal with 132 passengers onboard and with one of the pilots waving a Haitian flag from the cockpit window.

A band playing Creole music in the terminal greeted their arrival -- as had been the case regularly before the quake -- but the passengers were bussed to a separate building to pass through immigration because of damage to the airport.

The capital's airport has been an aid lifeline for the devastated country in the wake of the January 12 earthquake that killed more than 217,000 people and left over a million homeless.

Officials said resuming commercial traffic would inject crucial revenue into Haiti's crippled government.

"It's good for the reconstruction of Haiti," said American Airlines spokesperson Martha Pantin. "We were the last ones out; we are the first ones in."

But amid the celebration there were stark reminders of the innumerable tragedies that have befallen the Haitian people.

Passenger Marie Ange Levasseur, 45, began to cry as she spoke of how her cousin, who died in the quake, used to greet her at the airport when she would visit.

Levasseur now lives in Miami but still has family in Haiti.

"The first destination I want them to take me to is my cousin's grave," she said as she waited in line at immigration. "It's very sad, this trip. I've never had such a sad trip like that."

Jean Eddy Porche, 49, who also lives in Miami, arrived with his wife to check on family members and the house he still owns here. He had been told it was damaged and was not sure if it could be repaired.

Homes belonging to his mother and sister were completely destroyed, he said.

"I have friends who are dead, cousins," said Porche, adding he felt "completely traumatised" when arriving here.

Family members waited outside under the sun behind yellow caution tape for the passengers to emerge. Some embraced as they saw each other, while others seemed weary and simply turned and walked down the street together.

Since the earthquake, the country's largest commercial airport has resembled a military base, with over a hundred armed forces and UN flights passing through each day when traffic was at its peak.

Thousands of tonnes of food and medical aid along with disaster relief personnel have poured into Haiti via the hub, which at times has been overwhelmed, forcing officials to turn away some aircraft.

US embassy spokeswoman Elizabeth Detmeister said the resumption of commercial routes would mean that US evacuation flights would now be phased out.

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