By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, June 12 (Reuters) - American Airlines said Friday it will resume flights to Haiti on November 1 after major U.S. carriers suspended service to the Caribbean nation in late 2024.
American will begin service to Cap-Haitien this fall and is the first U.S. carrier to announce it is resuming service to Haiti.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has since November 2024 barred flights to the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, citing risks from armed groups to civil aviation.
The FAA later allowed flights to resume to six other airports in northern Haiti, but kept the ban on Port-au-Prince.
Haiti is the only Caribbean nation not to be served by direct flights operated by U.S. carriers.
American also said it plans to add a second Venezuela airport flight option, offering flights to Maracaibo starting July 14.
The FAA's current restrictions on Port-au-Prince are to continue through at least September 3. In November 2024, the FAA halted flights to Haiti after three U.S. commercial jetliners were struck by gunfire.
The FAA has kept the restrictions on Haiti's capital in place citing security forces' continued inability to prevent attacks against aircraft in Port-au-Prince and surrounding regions.
U.S. planes can transit over Port-au-Prince above 10,000 feet (3,048 m).
Close to 20,000 people have been killed in Haiti since 2021, according to a U.N. report earlier this year, with the death toll rising each year, as increasingly independent and powerful armed gangs have clashed with security forces and local vigilante groups.
Since September 2025, Haitian groups have used small-arms fire to attack at least three aircraft in the area where U.S. civil aviation is prohibited, according to the FAA.
The agency allows flights to six airports in Haiti: Port-de-Paix, Cap-Haitien, Pignon, Jeremie, Antoine-Simon and Jacmel.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Susan Fenton)
