By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Thursday it was extending its prohibition on U.S. flights landing in Haitian capital Port-au-Prince through September 3, citing risks from armed groups to civil aviation.
In November 2024, the FAA halted all flights to Haiti after three U.S. commercial jetliners were struck by gunfire. It later allowed flights to resume to six other airports in northern Haiti, but kept the ban on Port-au-Prince.
That restriction had been set to expire on Saturday, but the FAA said on Thursday it was extending the bar in response to security forces' continued inability to prevent attacks against aircraft in Port-au-Prince and surrounding regions.
U.S. planes can transit over Port-au-Prince above 10,000 feet (3,048 m).
Armed gangs control much of the Haitian capital amid a political limbo, with no president in place or elections scheduled and a U.N.-backed expanded security force pending.
Since September 2025, Haitian groups have used small-arms fire to attack at least three aircraft in the area where U.S. civil aviation is prohibited, according to the FAA.
The FAA said an "expanded and shifted gang operating area raises the risk from small arms fire to civil aviation operations at lower altitudes."
The agency continues to allow flights to six airports in Haiti: Port-de-Paix, Cap-Haitien, Pignon, Jeremie, Antoine-Simon and Jacmel.
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
