Passengers sleep on the floor at Rafael Hernández International Airport in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, after an overnight U.S. attack on Venezuela closed airspace, delayed and canceled flights.
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 end of the New Year’s holiday period, after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered commercial aircraft to avoid some parts of the region’s airspace in the wake of the U.S. attack on Venezuela.
President Donald Trump said Saturday that the attack resulted in the United States detaining Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
The cancellations included 400 flights to and from Puerto Rico’s Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport, nearly 60% of the day’s schedule, according to FlightAware. Fifteen flights departing from San Juan were canceled on Sunday.
A further 91 flights, more than half of Saturday’s flights to and from Aruba’s Queen Beatrix International Airport, were also canceled on Saturday.
“If appropriate, these airspace restrictions will be lifted,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on X.
The following airlines are affected by the flight restrictions: american airlines, delta airlines, southwest airlines and jet blue airlines, united airlines, and Frontier Airlines. The airline has waived change fees and fare differences for customers affected by the airspace closures if they change their flights later in the month. The airline included more than a dozen airports in the region in the exemption.
JetBlue, which operates extensively in the Caribbean, said it had canceled approximately 215 flights “due to airspace closures across the Caribbean related to military activities.” The airline said flights to the Dominican Republic and Jamaica are not affected by government restrictions.
American Airlines announced Saturday that it had canceled all flights in the Eastern Caribbean region.
Dutch airline KLM has also warned travelers of disruptions due to airspace restrictions, which could affect flights to Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao and other destinations.
Passengers stand next to screens displaying flight information at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Carolina, near San Juan, Puerto Rico, after an overnight U.S. attack on Venezuela closed airspace and caused flight delays and cancellations.
Reuters/Ricardo Arduengo
While such widespread restrictions are often temporary, some flight crew members are also stranded and airlines may need extra time to reassign staff after the ban is lifted.
Major U.S. airlines have not offered direct flights to Venezuela for years. American Airlines was the last major U.S. airline to suspend service to the country in 2019 following unrest there.
For years, airspace closures in response to military activity or other safety concerns have forced airlines to take longer routes to avoid restricted airspace, or to suspend operations altogether, including in Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Iran and surrounding areas.
