Airlines have begun to process sweeping cancellations to scheduled flights across the Caribbean following an urgent request from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) following Saturday’s early morning raid by the U.S. military on the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.
Despite the White House hailing the “large-scale” military strike, which resulted in the capture of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, a success, airlines are being warned to remain on high alert over the coming hours.
U.S. airlines cancel flights in response to FAA request
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, the FAA prohibited all U.S airlines from overflying Venezuelan airspace, but hours later, a request was put out to airlines to also ground flights to and from several other destinations in the Caribbean.
As airlines began to process the cancellations, Delta Air Lines initially commented:
“Delta began cancelling flights early Saturday morning in compliance with FAA airspace closures in the Caribbean. As cancellations are processed, customers will receive notifications via the Fly Delta app and contact information listed in their reservation.”
The airline went on to cancel flights to and from:
- Antigua, AG (ANU)
- Aruba, AW (AUA)
- Bridgetown, BB (BGI)
- Bonaire, BQ (BON)
- Curacao, CW (CUR)
- Grenada, GD (GND)
- San Juan, PR (SJU)
- St. Maarten, SX (SXM)
- St. Croix, VI (STX)
- St. Thomas, VI (STT)
- St. Kitts, KN (SKB)
- St. Vincent, VC (SVD)
- St. Lucia, LC (UVF)
Delta’s travel waiver
- Travel dates: January 3-6, 2026
- Modification Charge/Fare Difference waived for changes made up to January 9, 2026
- Travel must begin no later than January 9, 2026.
Meanwhile, Spirit Airlines provided a little more detail, explaining that the following destinations would be affected by the cancellations:
- Aruba, AW (AUA)
- San Juan, PR (SJU)
- St. Croix, USVI (STX)
- St. Maarten, SX (SXM)
- St. Thomas, USVI (STT)
Spirit’s travel waiver
- Travel dates: January 3-4, 2026
- Modification Charge/Fare Difference waived through January 11, 2026
- After this date, the modification charge is waived, but a fare difference may apply.
At present, the cancellations are expected to last through January 4, although they could be extended based on threat assessments from the U.S. military and intelligence services.
American Airlines has been badly impacted by the airspace closure in the Eastern Caribbean, with a total of 19 destinations affected by cancellations:
- Anguilla Wallblake, Anguilla (AXA)
- Antigua, Antigua (ANU)
- Argyle, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVD)
- Aruba, Aruba (AUA)
- Beef Island, British Virgin Islands (EIS)
- Bonaire, Bonaire (BON)
- Bridgetown, Barbados (BGI)
- Curacao, Curacao (CUR)
- Fort de France, Martinique (FDF)
- Grenada, Grenada (GND)
- Melville Hall, Dominica (DOM)
- Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe (PTP)
- Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (POS)
- San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU)
- St. Croix Island, U.S. Virgin Islands (STX)
- St. Kitts, Saint Kitts and Nevis (SKB)
- St. Lucia, Saint Lucia (UVF)
- St. Maarten, Saint Maarten (SXM)
- St. Thomas Island, U.S. Virgin Islands (STT)
AA’s travel waiver
- Travel dates: January 3-4, 2026
- Change fee waived if you can travel January 2-9, 2026
- Changes must be booked by January 4, 2026
- Travel must be completed within 1 year of the original ticket date; a difference in fare may apply
Meanwhile, United Airlines reported that it would be cancelling all flights to and from:
- Antigua, AG (ANU)
- Aruba, AW, NL (AUA)
- Bridgetown, BB (BGI)
- Bonaire, BQ, NL (BON)
- Aguadilla, PR, US (BQN)
- Curaçao, CW, NL (CUR)
- Dominica, DM (DOM)
- Port of Spain, TT (POS)
- San Juan, PR, US (SJU)
- St. Kitts, KN (SKB)
- St. Thomas, VI, US (STT)
- Sint Maarten, SX, NL (SXM)
- St. Lucia, LC (UVF)
United’s travel waiver
- Travel dates: January 4-6, 2026
- Change fee waived if you travel between January 6, 2026, and January 13, 2026. Tickets must be in the same cabin and between the same cities as originally booked.
Finally, JetBlue has cancelled flights to the following destinations:
- Aguadilla, Puerto Rico (BQN)
- Antigua (ANU)
- Aruba (AUA)
- Bonaire (BON)
- Bridgetown, Barbados (BGI)
- Curaçao (CUR)
- Georgetown, Guyana (GEO)
- Grenada (GND)
- Ponce, Puerto Rico (PSE)
- Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (POS)
- San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU)
- St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands (STX)
- St. Lucia (UVF)
- St. Maarten (SXM)
- St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (STT)
JetBlue’s travel waiver
- Travel dates: January 3-4, 2026
- Change fee waived for travel through January 10, 2026.
Airspace over Venezuela closed following military strikes
Along with airspace closures in the Eastern Caribbean, the FAA also rushed to issue an emergency Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) on Saturday, which prohibits U.S. civilian airlines from using Venezuelan airspace – officially known as the Maiquetia Flight Information Region (FIR).
In mid-November, the FAA issued a NOTAM that advised airlines to avoid using Venezuelan airspace until further notice, but it stopped short of outright banning airlines from using the Maiquetia FIR.
That being said, by this time, all U.S. carriers had already voluntarily stopped using the Venezuelan airspace.
Reaction from foreign airlines varies massively
The reaction to Saturday’s military operation in Venezuela from foreign airlines has been pretty varied, with some cancelling or even diverting flights, and others pressing ahead as normal.
Earlier on Saturday, Air France announced it was cancelling its flights to St. Maarten, Pointe à Pitre, and Fort de France, as a precautionary measure, while British leisure airline turned around three flights headed to Bridgetown halfway across the Atlantic.
Meanwhile, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic continued to operate their services to Bridgetown as planned.
