The U.S. Aviation Administration has issued a warning due to “deteriorating security” and increased “military activity” around Venezuela.
Published November 22, 2025
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has warned major airlines of the potential dangers of flying over Venezuelan airspace due to “heightened military activity” amid a major US military buildup in the region.
The FAA’s NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) alert issued on Friday cited “a deteriorating security situation and increased military activity in or around Venezuela,” and while it stopped short of banning flights over the country, it said the situation could pose a danger to aircraft.
Recommended stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
The aviation regulator called on aircraft flying over the area to “exercise caution” because of the threat “at all altitudes, including during overflights, arrival and departure phases of flights, and ground-based airports and aircraft.”
The FAA said in a background information document that Global Positioning Satellite System interference has increased in Venezuela’s airspace since September, in some cases causing “persistent effects during flights” during “activities related to enhanced military preparedness in Venezuela.”
The FAA added that since September, “Venezuela has conducted multiple military exercises and directed the large-scale mobilization of thousands of troops and reserves,” but noted that “Venezuela has not at any time expressed any intention to target civil aviation.”
“The FAA will continue to monitor the risk environment for U.S. civil aviation operating in the region and make adjustments as necessary.”
Direct flights to Venezuela by U.S. passenger or cargo airlines were suspended in 2019, but some U.S. airlines continue to fly over Venezuela en route to other South American destinations, Reuters reported.
American Airlines announced Friday that it had stopped flying over Venezuela in October. Delta Air Lines and United Airlines did not respond to requests for comment.
The airspace alert comes after Washington deployed a state-of-the-art carrier strike group, a Navy warship carrying thousands of troops and an F-35 stealth aircraft to the region in what it said was a military operation against drug-trafficking cartels in Latin America.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has warned that the United States may try to use a military buildup to remove him from power as the Trump administration intensifies its rhetoric against Caracas, including over allegations of drug trafficking.
U.S. forces are also involved in continued attacks on shipping in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. Since early September, the United States has attacked around 20 ships and killed more than 80 people accused of involvement in drug trafficking.
But the U.S. military has not provided any evidence that the vessel or its crew were involved in any criminal activity or posed any threat to the United States, and legal experts have accused the Trump administration of openly carrying out extrajudicial killings on the high seas.
Aviation tracking website Flightradar24 said U.S. airlines will now have to give the FAA 72 hours’ notice before flying over Venezuelan airspace.
The US FAA has issued a new security NOTAM warning operators of risks to civil aviation based on military training and increased GNSS interference in Venezuela. https://t.co/5YkzqGHziy pic.twitter.com/bBuEQTLsiz
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) November 21, 2025
