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DALLAS — US airlines have cancelled dozens of flights bound for the Caribbean after the FAA restricted airspace following US strikes on Venezuela and the capture of strong man Nicolás Maduro.
According to travel news outlet Open Jaw, the fast-moving restrictions effectively grounded US service to San Juan and disrupted links to Aruba, the Dominican Republic and several Dutch and French territories, as operations teams scrambled to re-route or cancel flights.
By midday Saturday, the Washington Post reports that more than 700 flights touching US airports had been cancelled, including over 300 at San Juan’s Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU), almost half of that gateway’s schedule, and more than 125 at New York JFK. JetBlue alone reported cancelling more than 200 flights as carriers issued waivers and rebooking options to stranded passengers.
American Airlines (AA), Delta Air Lines (DL) and Southwest Airlines (WN) all said they were complying with the FAA’s emergency NOTAM, which bans US airlines from flying near Venezuela, Puerto Rico and other parts of the Caribbean “due to safety-of-flight risks associated with ongoing military activity.”
Similar restrictions from European authorities triggered knock-on disruptions for flag carriers serving the Dutch Caribbean and northern South America, with some flights forced to turn back or hold while dispatchers worked up compliant routings.
What It Means for Caracas (CCS)
For Venezuela’s main international gateway, Simón Bolívar International Airport (CCS), the weekend’s events are the culmination of a long-running deterioration in the risk profile of its surrounding airspace.
In November 2025, the FAA issued a strong warning for the SVZM/Maiquetía Flight Information Region, citing increased military activity, GPS interference and a “worsening security situation,” and requiring US operators to provide 72 hours’ notice before entering the FIR. European regulators and states including Spain and Portugal followed with similar advisories, and multiple international airlines began suspending flights or routing around Venezuelan airspace altogether.
Today, that caution has hardened into a full ban with a new FAA NOTAM that now prohibits US commercial flights in Venezuelan airspace at all altitudes because of “ongoing military activity” around Caracas. In practice, that means any remaining US services to CCS are effectively halted, while North–South overflights that once cut across Venezuela must detour via Colombia or other neighboring FIRs.
For Venezuelan connectivity, the burden shifts even more heavily to a shrinking list of non-US carriers still serving Caracas and secondary cities, many of which were already reevaluating their schedules after the late-2025 advisories.
Travel experts advise against cancelling future Caribbean trips wholesale, noting that the military operation appears contained and that airlines "are eager" to restore normal schedules once restrictions are lifted. One regional carrier, Caribbean Airlines (BW), has said there were no disruptions to its services today and that all scheduled flights were operating as normal.
Regardless, with Venezuelan airspace effectively off-limits to US carriers and subject to heightened warnings for others, last night's actions in Caracas have reshaped traffic flows across the entire region, placing renewed scrutiny for some and hope for other on the long-term viability of Caracas as a connecting hub.
This is a developing story.
Featured image: Helwing Villamizar/Airways
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