American Airlines has indefinitely suspended daily service between Miami and Haiti after an aircraft was struck by a bullet last month.
The airline had suspended flights to Port-au-Prince until Feb. 12 after the incident but announced this week that it would suspend all flights until further notice. The Federal Aviation Administration on Nov. 12 prohibited all U.S. airlines from flying to Haiti for 30 days.
“American has made the difficult decision to suspend daily service between Miami (MIA) and Port-au-Prince, Haiti (PAP),” a spokesperson from the carrier said in a statement. “We are proud of our more than 50-year-commitment to Haiti and we will continue to monitor the situation, assessing safety, security, and customer demand, in evaluating a return of service. We will proactively reach out to impacted customers to offer a full refund of their travel itinerary.”
The airline had operated one daily flight on a Boeing 737 MAX 8 between Miami International Airport and Aeroport International Toussaint Louverture until the incident.
A JetBlue Airbus A320 was also damaged by gunfire, as was a Spirit Airlines aircraft. A Spirit flight attendant was injured in the shooting.
The United Nations temporarily suspended flights to the country, which limited humanitarian aid. Operations at PAP were suspended through at least Wednesday.
The shootings occurred during turmoil and violence in the wake of the country swearing in a new prime minister.
The U.S. Embassy in Haiti cancelled all visa appointments on Dec. 5 until further notice “due to continued violence throughout Port-au-Prince and near the U.S. Embassy.” The Embassy urged Americans to not travel to Haiti, to avoid crowds and to keep a low profile if already in the country.
