Airlines suspend flights between Haiti and South Florida amid escalating violence

Airlines canceled flights between South Florida and Haiti on Monday in response to a worsening situation there that has alarmed the White House and led to a new security alert to U.S. citizens issued by the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince. American Airlines suspended service between Miami International Airport (MIA) and Toussaint Louverture International Airport (PAP) through Wednesday “as a result of civil unrest,” said Bri Harper, a spokeswoman, in a statement. The carrier has a daily departure and arrival. “We will continue to monitor the situation with safety and security top of mind and will adjust our operation as needed,” she said. JetBlue Airways canceled flights on Monday. It has daily service between Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Port-au-Prince. The decision was due to “recent civil unrest”,” said senior manager of corporate communications Derek Dombrowski in a statement. “We continue to monitor the situation and are working closely with the U.S. Embassy and our team in Haiti to determine next steps.” Arrivals from and departures to Port-au-Prince from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Azul from were all canceled according the airport flight tracker. On Monday afternoon, Spirit Airlines, which also flies out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, suspended flights to and from Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien through March 6, spokeswoman Nicole Aguiar said in a statement. The carrier is “closely monitoring the situation and will adjust our schedule as needed.” It suggested passengers regularly consult its website at spirit.com/flight-status. for updates. On Sunrise Airways’ website, a search for flights between Miami and Haiti came up empty. That carrier had started flying between the two places last year. <br/>