Caribbean Air Travel Recovers After Venezuela Action Shuts Down Airspace

Air travel in the Caribbean has mostly recovered after being halted on Saturday following U.S. military action in Venezuela.

On Saturday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued emergency NOTAMs (Notice to Air Missions) prohibiting U.S. airlines from entering Venezuelan airspace and the “Caribbean Corridor,” which includes San Juan, Curaçao, and Piarco.

The orders caused mass flight cancellations throughout the region. Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU) in San Juan saw more than 300 flights cancelled on Saturday, while Cyril E. King Airport (STT) in St. Thomas saw 56 cancellations—representing about half of its Saturday schedule—according to FlightAware.

The situation improved Sunday morning when the FAA allowed the total flight prohibitions in those NOTAMs to expire. They were replaced by advisory NOTAMs for the same areas, which remain in effect until Feb. 2, but don’t prohibit flying.

JetBlue, arguably the airline most impacted by the restrictions, issued a travel waiver for more than a dozen Caribbean airports on Saturday and Sunday. The carrier resumed normal operations as of 11:30 a.m. EST on Sunday. To assist impacted passengers, JetBlue added extra flights and stated it is “working to rebook customers on available flights and, where possible, by adding extra flights.”

American Airlines, the other major U.S. carrier affected, also issued a waiver for travel through nearly 20 Caribbean hubs. After recording more than 100 cancellations on Saturday, American is still working to clear the backlog as of Monday morning.

On Sunday, American deployed a Boeing 777-300ER—the largest aircraft in its fleet—to the Caribbean to support recovery efforts. Additionally, the airline announced that for the first time in more than a decade, it is operating special inter-island flights in the Eastern Caribbean. On Monday, two flights will connect Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport in Anguilla (AXA) and Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport in the British Virgin Islands (EIS) to San Juan (SJU). These flights allow passengers to reach San Juan for connections to Miami.

American is also adding supplemental flights through St. Kitts (SKB), Grenada (GND), Bonaire (BON), and other regional destinations.

Delta Air Lines has also issued a travel waiver for the affected Caribbean airports. Delta’s waiver remains in effect through Tuesday, Jan. 6, and allows passengers to rebook in the same cabin for travel through Jan. 9 without paying a fare difference.