Several airlines from the United States had to suspend flights to and from Haiti starting this past Monday after a Spirit Airlines plane was shot at while attempting to land in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
On Monday, flights from Spirit, American Airlines, and Jet Blue were canceled, and the airlines announced in a statement that they will not operate any more flights to Haiti at least until Thursday. The commercial airline Sunrise Airways, based in Haiti, informed CNN that it has suspended its flights until further notice.
Spirit pointed out in a statement that it is waiting to evaluate the security situation in Haiti, while Jet Blue indicated that they will monitor to determine if more cancellations will be necessary and that “anticipating disruptions in Haiti due to civil unrest” they will not apply charges for changes or cancellations to customers traveling from Monday, November 11 to Monday, December 2.
What was known about the incident of the Spirit plane that was shot at in Haiti?
Regarding the suspensions, the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince said it is aware “of efforts led by gangs to block travel to and from Port-au-Prince, which may include armed violence and disruptions on roads, ports, and airports.”
The Haitian authorities, for their part, have not informed when operations at the airport will resume, which suspended its activities on Monday.
The incident occurred on Monday when Spirit Airlines Flight 951, which had departed from Fort Lauderdale in southeastern Florida bound for Port-au-Prince, ended up being shot at upon landing and had to be diverted to the city of Santiago de los Caballeros in neighboring Dominican Republic. Port-au-Prince has been plagued by a wave of gang violence for months.
According to a statement from the airline, after the arrival of their plane at the Dominican airport, an inspection revealed damages on the aircraft compatible with gunshots. A flight attendant who suffered minor injuries is being attended to by medical personnel, the company added.