What You Need to Know — And Which Airports Were Unaffected 

After the United States’ military action in Venezuela on Saturday, several hundred flights to and from the Caribbean were canceled due to a shutdown of US airspace. 

So what does this all mean for travelers?

Impact for Travelers and Airports 

First, here are the airports that were impacted: 

Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Aruba, British Virgin Islands, Bonaire, Barbados, Curaçao, Martinique, Grenada, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico, United States Virgin Islands, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Maarten. 

In a statement, St Maarten’s Princess Juliana International Airport said it was “closely monitoring the evolving regional airspace situation.”  

However, a number of airports were not impacted. 

The Airports That Weren’t Affected 

That includes countries like The Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Turks and Caicos, Belize and St Barth. 

For example, flights went on as planned from Miami to Nassau in The Bahamas on American Airlines on Saturday, and from Miami to Grand Cayman, among others. 

The most impacted carrier was American Airlines, with flights to 19 different cities canceled on Saturday, with other carriers seeing cancellations including Southwest, Delta, Frontier, United and Spirit. 

If You Had an Existing Reservation 

The good news? If your flight was affected, carriers are either allowing you to rebook with no charge or get a credit for future travel within a year. 

Most airlines are applying that for travel between now and Jan. 6; that’s a sign of when travel is likely to reactivate normally to these airports. 

Non-US Carriers

The move did not seem to impact all non-US carriers. Air Canada, for example, did not cancel flights on Saturday, although it is offering free changes to your fare if you don’t want to go ahead with your bookings. That includes 17 different airports across the Caribbean. 

What’e Next 

A search of sample flights to airports that had seen cancellations showed a number of flights bookable and on line for travel on Monday, Jan. 5. 

Of course, with the number of travelers looking to rebook, particularly on return travel from the Caribbean, over the next few days, there will be likely disruptions for the next week or so. 

Make sure you reach out to your particular airline for updates.