U.S. extends ban on its airlines flying to Port-au-Prince to March 2026

Washington.- The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has extended until March 7, 2026, the ban on U.S. airlines flying to Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, considering that criminal gangs continue to control the city and its surrounding areas and have the capacity to attack aircraft. “The FAA continues to prohibit U.S. civil aviation operations below 10,000 feet above mean sea level in specific areas of Haitian airspace, in response to the continued inability of security forces to prevent attacks against aircraft in Port-au-Prince and its surroundings,” the agency explained in a statement.

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The agency first issued this ban in March, which expired last week, and now estimates that in the six months since then, these gangs have extended “their area of operations to control almost 90% of Port-au-Prince and the surrounding strategic routes and border areas.” It also points out that in that period at least one case has been recorded in which criminal groups have fired light weapons at aircraft within the area that had been restricted by its ban in March. The statement underlines that Haitian and international security forces “are experiencing a persistent shortage of personnel and equipment” and “have a limited capacity to counter the activities” of these groups. The federal entity believes that these gangs, whose consolidated group (Viv Ansanm) Washington has considered a terrorist organization since May, continue to have access to light weapons and drones that can be used to attack aircraft flying at low altitude. The FAA, however, considers that these organizations still do not have a considerable presence in other parts of the country, where there is no history of attacks on aviation or airports, so it considers that the airports of Cap-Haïtien (north of the country) and Antoine Simon (in the southwest) are safe.