Washington lifts airspace restrictions over Caribbean for US aircraft

The White House is set to lift the recently imposed restrictions on flights by American aircraft in parts of Caribbean airspace.

The resumption of air traffic over Venezuelan territory and parts of the Caribbean has been announced by US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy via his official X account, as Caliber.Az reports.

US flights will be able to travel over Venezuelan airspace starting from January 5 at 00:00 local time (05:00 GMT), with airlines having already been informed of this development.

This decision follows the US Federal Aviation Administration's earlier ban on American aircraft from flying over Venezuelan territory and parts of the Caribbean at any altitude, imposed in the early morning hours of January 3.

The ban was announced following reports of explosions in Caracas and the enhanced security risks linked to the then-unfolding US military activity in the capital, which resulted in the capture of the country's president, Nicolás Maduro, together with his wife, Cilia Flores, who have been transferred to a detention centre in the US city of New York. 

By Nazrin Sadigova