Caracas Airport Closure Disrupts More Than 110 Flights

‍MAIQUETÍA, Venezuela — The closure of Simón Bolívar International Airport (CCS) following Wednesday’s earthquakes has disrupted more than 110 scheduled passenger flights on Thursday, severing Venezuela’s main domestic and international aviation gateway at the start of a full day of operations.

Cirium schedule data shared with Airways shows that 56 flights were scheduled to arrive at CCS on June 25, offering 8,505 inbound seats. With corresponding outbound operations also affected by the airport’s closure, more than 110 scheduled flight movements were expected to be disrupted.

That figure represents the airport’s planned schedule rather than an official airport-wide cancellation total. Authorities have not yet published a consolidated count of canceled, diverted, delayed, or repositioned flights.

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez confirmed that the airport remained closed because of earthquake damage, while structural and operational assessments continued. No reopening time had been announced at publication.

A hub goes dark

The disruption affects much more than a handful of international services.

Copa Airlines (CM) had three scheduled arrivals from Panama City (PTY), carrying 458 seats. LASER Airlines (QL) had three scheduled flights from Porlamar (PMV), while Avianca (AV) had two arrivals planned from Bogotá (BOG), carrying 360 seats. American Airlines (AA), which only resumed Miami (MIA)–Caracas service in April, had two scheduled arrivals from Miami with 152 seats.

The disrupted network also included flights from Madrid (MAD), Istanbul (IST), São Paulo (GRU), Curaçao (CUR), Havana (HAV), Managua (MGA), Medellín (MDE), Punta Cana (PUJ), and numerous domestic Venezuelan destinations.

For June as a whole, Cirium data lists 1,496 scheduled incoming flights to Caracas, representing 218,993 seats. Panama City, Porlamar, Bogotá, Curaçao, Madrid, Maracaibo, Barcelona, and Istanbul are among the airport’s largest scheduled markets.

Airlines cancel, divert

As the closure took effect, Copa canceled its Wednesday evening CM330 flight from Panama City and three scheduled Thursday Panama City–Caracas services. Wingo (P5) also canceled its P57006 flight from Bogotá, while a Turkish Airlines (TK) service from Istanbul bound for Caracas diverted to Panama City.

Avianca confirmed that it canceled AV122 on June 24, followed by AV123, AV142, and AV143 on June 25 across its Bogotá–Caracas–Bogotá operation.

The Colombian carrier activated a flexibility policy for passengers booked to or from Caracas between June 24 and July 1. Customers can rebook without penalty, subject to availability, for travel up to 15 days after their original date; reroute via Cúcuta (CUC); or request a refund for unused segments.

Copa has also issued a flexibility advisory for passengers traveling to, from, or through Caracas, as airlines continue to assess the operational consequences of the closure.

Damage assessment continues

Videos from inside the terminal show ceiling and roof failures, fallen panels, debris, dust, and damage in public passenger areas. Reports have also pointed to damage in airport parking and access infrastructure.

However, authorities have not yet released a full technical assessment covering the runways, taxiways, air traffic control systems, navigation equipment, fuel facilities, baggage systems, or emergency-access infrastructure.

The orchestration of these systems matter. An airport can have an available runway but still be unable to safely handle commercial flights if passenger-processing areas, utilities, security controls, evacuation routes, or emergency-response systems are compromised.

Until those systems are inspected and cleared, normal commercial operations cannot safely resume.

A fragile reconnection put at risk

The closure comes just as CCS had begun to regain its role as Venezuela’s main international gateway after years of isolation, security concerns, and suspended service.

American restored Miami–Caracas flights on April 30, marking the first nonstop commercial U.S.–Venezuela passenger service in seven years. The airline added a second daily Miami frequency on May 21, further reinforcing the route’s importance for diaspora, family, and business travel.

United Airlines (UA) is also scheduled to resume daily Houston (IAH)–Caracas flights on August 11, subject to final approval, reopening another major U.S. link after nearly a decade.

Avianca had resumed Bogotá–Caracas service in February and expanded to two daily frequencies in late March. Meanwhile, CCS’s June schedule included international links operated by Air Europa (UX), Iberia (IB), Plus Ultra (PU), Turkish Airlines, GOL (G3), LATAM Airlines (LA), Copa, Wingo, and several other regional carriers.

That makes a prolonged closure more consequential than a normal airport disruption. CCS is not only Caracas’ gateway to Latin America, North America, and Europe; it had become the focal point of a still-fragile aviation reopening, supporting diaspora travel, business links, humanitarian movement, and renewed international connectivity.

The immediate priority is a full structural and operational assessment. But every additional day of closure means there will be network recovery pause while the airport at its center is unable to receive passengers.