by Donald Wood
Last updated: 8:20 AM ET, Thu March 5, 2026
The United States’ Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
announced on Thursday that it would extend the ban on flights to the Haitian
capital, Port-au-Prince, through September 3.
According to Reuters.com,
FAA officials said the prohibition on U.S. flights landing in Port-au-Prince
was due to “risks from armed groups to civil aviation.”
The FAA issued a countrywide ban in November 2024 after
three U.S. commercial airplanes were struck by gunfire when leaving Haiti, but
officials allowed flights to resume to six other airports in northern Haiti several
months later.
The extended ban on flights to Port-au-Prince has remained
in place since 2024.
FAA officials said the flight prohibition to the Haitian
capital was set to expire on Saturday, but the “continued inability to prevent
attacks against aircraft in Port-au-Prince and surrounding regions” by local security
forces caused the ban to be extended.
Planes from the U.S. are still permitted to fly over Haiti’s
capital, but they must stay at or above 10,000 feet due to an “expanded and
shifted gang operating area” that elevates the “risk from small arms fire to
civil aviation operations at lower altitudes.”
U.S. flights to other areas of Haiti are permitted by the
FAA, including service to airports in areas such as Port-de-Paix, Cap-Haitien,
Pignon, Jeremie, Antoine-Simon, and Jacmel.
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