American Airlines resumes flights to Haiti, providing a vital route into the country
The U.S. airline has begun flying into northern Haiti on a daily basis, providing a vital route into the country at a time when Americans have few options to get there as the U.S. government advises people to avoid all travel to the Caribbean nation due to security concerns.
Airline resumes service to northern city of Cap-Haïtien amid U.S. State Department's security concerns
Geoff Nixon · CBC News
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A major U.S. airline has begun flying into northern Haiti on a daily basis, providing a vital route into the country at a time when Americans have few options to get there amid U.S. government advice to avoid all travel to the Caribbean nation due to security concerns.
At the start of November, American Airlines relaunched daily non-stop service from Miami to the port city of Cap-Haïtien after a years-long absence that began during the pandemic and persisted through a prolonged period of instability that has followed in Haiti.
"We are excited to return to Haiti," the airline told CBC News via email, pointing to the important link the route provides between the two countries.
Yet the route is resuming at a time when the U.S. State Department is advising people not to travel to Haiti for any reason, as a result of the ongoing state of emergency in the country and general security risks — including crime, kidnapping and unrest. Canada's government is also currently warning people not to visit the country.
Haiti has endured a series of crises, including years of political chaos, widespread gang violence and a related wave of civilian displacement. The country also faces major challenges with hunger at the moment.
The State Department nonetheless sees value in Americans having another way to get to Haiti, telling CBC News that it "welcomes" the airline's new service to Cap-Haïtien — even though its travel advice is unchanged.
"The Trump Administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans," the State Department said.
A 'very complicated' journey lately
The return of the American Airlines service between South Florida and the western side of the island of Hispaniola, is likewise welcomed by members of the Haitian community in the U.S.
Wolf Pamphile, the founder and CEO of Haiti Policy House, a Washington, D.C.,-based think-tank, said travel to Haiti has been "very complicated" for those trying to get there from the U.S. — with Haitian carrier Sunrise Airways being one of the main options.
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The United States has a large Haitian diaspora, particularly in Florida. But Pamphile said there are also many people with ties to Haiti living in parts of the northeastern U.S. — including in New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
He says the return of American Airlines to Cap-Haïtien gives Haiti-bound American air travellers more reliability and a level of customer service "that doesn't exist in the market right now."
For Florida resident Gilson Morusuma, American Airlines' re-entry into the Haitian market brings the prospect of better service and more competitive pricing for air travel to his home country.
But when speaking to The Haitian Times, he noted that while the return of the American Airlines route offers travellers like himself a new option, "it does not resolve the broader challenges facing the country's aviation sector or restore service to the capital."
Shift in air traffic
Pamphile says the security situation in Haiti's capital of Port-au-Prince has led to a shift in air traffic, to the point where Cap-Haïtien has become "the main hub" for many international flights to the island.
Pamphile noted that while Port-au-Prince faces gang-related security challenges, the situation is "drastically different" in Cap-Haïtien, which is about 200 kilometres north of the capital.
Pilots watch the runway from the cockpit of a plane landing in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, in April 2026. (Clarens Siffroy/AFP/Getty Images)
Regarding security considerations surrounding its flights to Cap-Haïtien, American Airlines told CBC News it "conducts a comprehensive review of a variety of operational, safety and business considerations before starting service."
There were a spate of publicly reported incidents in November 2024 of gangs firing at aircraft in Port-au-Prince — including an American Airlines flight. As a result, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration banned U.S. flights from landing in the capital — a ban that's been extended into 2027.
The November 2024 incidents also led to a shutdown of the international airport in Port-au-Prince. Seven months after, Haiti's Sunrise airline operated the first commercial flight out of the capital, according to The Associated Press.
Fellow U.S. carrier JetBlue Airways used to fly to Haiti, but halted service in 2024 after one of its planes was shot at when departing Port-au-Prince.
In July, JetBlue president Marty St. George told the Miami Herald the airline had no plans to return.
JetBlue told CBC News it did not have "any updates or additional information to share regarding our service to Haiti."
Parallel advice from Ottawa
Like its U.S. counterpart, Global Affairs Canada is also telling travellers to avoid all travel to Haiti given the "extremely volatile" security situation in the country.
As such, two Canadian airlines that previously flew to Haiti have no immediate plans to restart flights to the country.
"We do not anticipate resuming our service to Port-au-Prince in the near future," Stéphanie Dussault, an Air Transat spokesperson, told CBC News via email. "We continue to assess the situation in Haiti, with the safety of our passengers and crew guiding any decision about future service."
That's also the case at Air Canada, which is not operating flights to Haiti at this time.
"We continue to closely monitor the situation and will assess opportunities to resume service when conditions allow," Yasmine Mehdi, an airline spokesperson, said in an emailed statement.
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