The , Federal Aviation Administration , is extending its restrictions on , U. S.  , airplanes flying into Haiti’s funds until September.
The ban, first imposed in November after armed gangs , opened fired on three , U. S.  , commercial airlines flying over Port-au-Prince ‘s , Toussaint Louverture International Airport,  , was set to expire on Wednesday. The , FAA , is then extending that until at least  , Sept. 8.
While , U. S.  , heat carriers, including goods and commercial flights, you sail over Port-au-Prince’s heat space, they are prohibited from landing at the airport without previous authorization from the , FAA , administrator, an agency notice warns. The ban also applies to the area of La Gonave. The restrictions does not apply to people operating , U. S. registered plane for a foreign ship. That difference has allowed Haiti’s even locally-owned ship,  , Sunrise Airways, to continue to operate the only immediate airlines between , Haiti , and , Miami , International Airport using a , U. S.  , contract business.
The FAA’s restrictions has largely led to a closure of Haiti’s atmosphere operations, even though the major international airport is physically available. No domestic airlines are operating, and with the exception of a dozen missionary airlines,  , U. S.  , defense plane bringing in products for the , Kenya-led security forces and the odd mandate from other countries, there hasn’t been much exercise.
To flee the country, individuals have to travel out of the smaller international airports in Cap-Haïtien, which requires travellers to risk their lives on gang-controlled or harmful mountain roads. Those with deep pockets can pay$ 2, 500 for a one-way seat on a private helicopter. Others either rely on a , United Nations , helicopter, which is , routinely short of funds to move aid staffers, or a chopper paid for by the government of , Taiwan. The chopper, chartered by one-time Prime Minister , Garry Conille , to move police officers, has become the main mode of transport for government officials and their contacts needing to fly out of the capital.
Last week,  , Jetblue Airways,  , one of the three , U. S.  , carriers that reported being hit by gang gunfire in November, announced that it was extending its suspension of flights between , Port-au-Prince , and JFK International Airport in , New York , and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport until at least June.  , American Airlines, which operated the only daily flights out of , Miami, had previously announced that it was indefinitely suspending its , Haiti , operations and would revisit the decision later this fall.  , Spirit Airlines, the only carrier to operate flights to both , Port-au-Prince , and Cap-Haïtien, has not said when it will resume flights to either destination.
The gang violence has displaced more than 1 million Haitians from their homes.
WilliamO’Neill, the U. N.’s independent human rights expert on , Haiti, said Tuesday that” the risk of the capital falling under gang control is palpable”.
” These violent criminal groups continue to extend and consolidate their hold even beyond the capital”, addedO’Neill, who was in , Port-au-Prince , last week. ” They kill, rape, terrorize, set fire to homes, orphanages, schools, hospitals, places of worship. They recruit children, and they infiltrate all spheres of society. All this with the utmost impunity, and sometimes, as many sources point out, with the complicity of powerful actors”.
In its most recent update on the security situation in , Haiti,  , Osprey Flight Solutions,  , an aviation risk-management firm, noted that there have been several gang attacks in the capital that increase the security risks. The company’s data indicate that there has been a net gradual deterioration of the security environment in , Haiti , since , September 2022.
” The security environment in , Port-au-Prince , and its surroundings continues to be highly volatile”, the firm said in a report. ” There are high rates of crime, including violent criminal activity, in the surrounding urban areas of , Port-au-Prince airport , that could affect flight crews while transiting”.
___
© 2025 Miami Herald
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
