Despite the Federal Aviation Administration reopening the Eastern Caribbean airspace following the dramatic capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces, some American tourists said they remain stranded across the region.
As airlines scrambled on Sunday to add flights and get people home from the Caribbean, tourists such as Nydia Han said they remain stuck.
Han, an anchor and reporter for ABC Philadelphia station WPVI, said she and her family were supposed to fly from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Philadelphia on Sunday night. But now, she said she has been told by the airlines that she can’t get a flight home until Friday.
Passengers wait at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as all flights are cancelled following the U.S. military action in Venezuela, January 3, 2026.
Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/AFP via Getty Images
“Unfortunately, because of Maduro’s capture and airspace being closed, we are stuck here in Vieques,” Han said in a video she shared with ABC News.
The FAA issued a so-called notice to airmen (NOTAM) to airlines early Saturday that it was banning flights from entering the Eastern Caribbean airspace “due to safety-of-flight risk associated with ongoing military activity.”
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a social media post later on Saturday that the Caribbean airspace ban would expire at midnight Eastern time on Sunday.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro is escorted by U.S. Drug Enforcement Agents after arriving in New York City, January 3, 2026.
Obtained by ABC News
Major U.S. air carriers — including Southwest, JetBlue, United, Delta and American — canceled hundreds of flights during the airspace ban and some are scrambling to add additional flights to the region to accommodate affected customers.
Flights throughout the Caribbean — including other popular destinations such as Aruba, Bonaire Curacao, St. Martin and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands — were also canceled during the airspace ban, but some airports are getting back to normal.
Flights were arriving and departing from the Queen Beatrix International Airport in Oranjestad, Aruba, according to FlightRadar24.
American Airlines said it is adding 5,000 additional seats to its Caribbean routes and deploying a Boeing 777-300, the largest plane in its fleet, to assist customers.
About 29 flights into and out of Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Puerto Rico were canceled on Sunday, a far cry from the 400 inbound and outbound flights canceled on Saturday.
Billy Gunther of Florida said he and his wife are newlyweds and were wrapping up their stay at an Airbnb in Puerto Rico on Saturday when they got a notification that their flight was canceled.
Gunther told ABC affiliate station WZVN in Naples, Florida, that it could be another three days before he and his wife get a flight back home. Gunther said he has spoken to other tourists coping with flight cancellations.
“So, you have a lot of people who are anxious, that they don’t know when they’re going to come home,” Gunther said.