Airlines cancel hundreds of Caribbean flights after US attacks on Venezuela

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 after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered commercial planes to avoid airspace in parts of the region following U.S. strikes on Venezuela.

President Donald Trump said Saturday that the strikes allowed the United States to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.

The cancellations included 400 flights to and from Puerto Rico’s Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, or nearly 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.

“Where appropriate, these airspace restrictions will be lifted,” US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a message on X.

Airlines affected by flight restrictions included American airlines, Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines And JetBlue Airways, United Airlines, and Frontier Airlines. Carriers have waived change fees and fare differences for customers affected by the airspace closure if they change their flights later in the month. Airlines have included more than a dozen area airports in their waivers.

JetBlue, which has significant operations in the Caribbean, said it canceled about 215 flights “due to airspace closures in the Caribbean related to military activities.” The airline noted that flights to the Dominican Republic and Jamaica were not affected by government restrictions.

American Airlines announced on Saturday that it had canceled all of its flights in the Eastern Caribbean.

Dutch airline KLM also warned travelers of disruptions due to airspace restrictions, which could affect Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao and other flights.

While these broad restrictions are often temporary, some flight crews have also been stranded, so airlines may need more time after flight bans are lifted to reposition their staff.

Major US airlines have not served Venezuela directly for years. American was the last of the major U.S. carriers to stop serving the country in 2019 due to unrest there.

Airspace closures in response to military activities and other security concerns have forced airlines for years to fly longer routes to avoid restricted airspace, or to halt services altogether in recent years, including to and around Russia, Ukraine, Israel and Iran.