The United States Federal Aviation Administration barred American commercial carriers from operating in Haitian airspace below 10,000 feet in November 2024 after gunfire from gang networks near Port-au-Prince struck aircraft operating at lower altitudes during approach and departure. The restriction — which effectively prevented normal commercial flight operations to Haiti’s main airport — was the FAA’s response to documented safety risks that it could not allow American airlines to ignore.
The gunfire incidents that prompted the restriction were part of a broader pattern in which gang networks had demonstrated their ability to threaten aircraft approaching or departing the Port-au-Prince airport. The airport, which sat in a valley surrounded by neighborhoods under gang control, was in a geographically vulnerable position that gave armed groups in surrounding areas sightlines to approaching aircraft.
The FAA restriction added to the complications of maintaining air service to Haiti that airlines had been managing since the March 2024 closures. Only smaller regional carriers that were not subject to FAA restrictions or operated under different risk assessments continued to provide some service. The effective near-closure of commercial air access to Port-au-Prince further isolated Haiti from international commerce, humanitarian supply chains, and diaspora connections.
The restriction raised questions about the long-term viability of the airport under current security conditions and pointed to the need for security improvements around the airport perimeter that went beyond what the Kenyan mission’s current scale could provide. Without secure airport approaches, Haiti’s connectivity to the outside world would remain hostage to the gang networks that controlled surrounding territory.