SEATTLE: Major airlines on Saturday cancelled hundreds of flights following a US military operation in Venezuela that resulted in the capture of President Nicolas Maduro.
American Airlines, Delta, United Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines and JetBlue Airways began cancelling flights early on Saturday morning in compliance with Federal Aviation Administration airspace closures in the Caribbean.
JetBlue cancelled 215 flights, a spokesperson for the airline said.
The FAA closed the airspace to US carriers “due to safety-of-flight risks associated with ongoing military activity,” the agency said in a notice to airmen.
The agency issued other security notices for non-US air carriers, cautioning them from entering Venezuelan airspace. A notice to British operators warned of “potential risk from anti-aircraft weaponry and heightened military activity” if flying within 100 miles (160 km) of Venezuelan airspace.
The FAA declined to comment further.
NON-US AIRLINES ALSO CANCEL FLIGHTS
Several European and South American airlines also cancelled flights.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on X that airspace restrictions will be lifted “when appropriate.”
American military activity near Venezuela led to a near mid-air crash in November between a JetBlue airliner and a US aerial refuelling tanker, according to news reports.
Several carriers waived change fees and fare differences for customers affected by the airspace closures if they changed their flights to later in the month.
Once restrictions are lifted, it will still take several days to restore operations to normal, airline analyst Robert Mann said. “They have a day’s worth of passengers basically,” already stranded in the Caribbean, he said. The United States attacked Venezuela and captured its long-serving President Nicolas Maduro in an overnight operation on Saturday, US President Donald Trump said, promising to put the country under American control for now, including by deploying US forces if necessary.
Air Canada said its operations to the Caribbean and South America are continuing normally under guidance from Transport Canada. “We continue to monitor the situation closely and we will update as required if the situation changes,” the airline said.
Commercial air traffic over Venezuelan airspace appeared to stop after the attack, according to flight records on FlightRadar24.
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