Passengers sleep on the floor, after flights were delayed and cancelled when the airspace was closed due to U.S. strikes on Venezuela overnight, at Rafael Hernandez International Airport in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.
REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo
Airlines canceled hundreds of flights to Puerto Rico and other parts of the Caribbean on Saturday, stranding thousands of travelers at the tail-end of the New Year holiday period after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered commercial aircraft to avoid airspace in parts of the region following U.S. strikes on Venezuela.
President Donald Trump said Saturday the strikes resulted in the United States’ capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
Cancellations included 400 flights to and from Puerto Rico’s Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, close to 60% of the day’s schedule, according to FlightAware. Fifteen flights from San Juan were listed as canceled for Sunday.
Another 91 flights, more than half of Saturday’s flights to and from Aruba’s Queen Beatrix International Airport, were also canceled Saturday.
“When appropriate, these airspace restrictions will be lifted,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on X.
Airlines affected by the flight restrictions included American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways, United Airlines, and Frontier Airlines. Carriers waived change fees and fare differences for customers affected by the airspace closures if they change their flights to later in the month. Airlines included more than a dozen airports in region in their waivers.
JetBlue, which has a large operation in the Caribbean, said it canceled about 215 flights “due to airspace closures across the Caribbean related to military activity.” The airline noted that flights to the Dominican Republic and Jamaica were not affected by government restrictions
American Airlines said it canceled all of its flights in the Eastern Caribbean on Saturday.
Dutch airline KLM also warned travelers about disruptions because of the airspace restrictions, potentially affecting Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao and other flights.
Passengers stand next to screens displaying flight information, after flights were delayed and cancelled when the airspace was closed due to U.S. strikes on Venezuela overnight, at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in Carolina, near San Juan, Puerto Rico.
REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo
Though such broad restrictions are often temporary, some flight crews were also stranded, so airlines could need extra time after the flight bans lift to reposition staff.
Major U.S. airlines haven’t served Venezuela directly for years. American was the last of the major U.S. carriers to stop flying to the country in 2019 amid unrest there.
Airspace closures in response to military activity and other safety concerns have forced airlines for years to take longer routes to avoid restricted airspace, or pause service altogether in recent years, including in and around Russia, Ukraine, Israel and Iran.
