> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.thecontrail.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # American Airlines Returns to Haiti Today, Two Years After Gunfire Grounded US Flights - URL: https://www.thecontrail.org/american-airlines-haiti-flights/ - Published: 2026-11-01T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-01T15:59:59.000Z - Description: A daily Miami to Cap-Haïtien flight starts today. Here's what's flying, what isn't and how travelers are still getting to Port-au-Prince. - Author: Zach Benitez - Tags: News, American # American Airlines Returns to Haiti Today, Two Years After Gunfire Grounded US Flights Is American Airlines flying to Haiti again? As of today, yes. American's new daily flight from Miami to Cap-Haïtien, on Haiti's north coast, starts on Sunday, Nov. 1, reportedly making it the first major US airline to return to the country since gunfire hit three US passenger planes at Port-au-Prince in November 2024\. The first flight, AA2492, was scheduled to leave Miami at 10:20 a.m. and land in Cap-Haïtien just before 12:30 p.m., with the return flight heading back to Miami about an hour later. What American isn't doing is flying to Port-au-Prince, the capital, where US airlines are still banned. --- ## What's Flying and What Isn't The new route is one round trip a day between Miami International and Cap-Haïtien International, flown on a Boeing 737 MAX 8, a single-aisle plane with a small first class cabin up front. The flight takes about two hours each way. American has said schedules may shift, so anyone booked should check their times in the app rather than relying on the original listing. Port-au-Prince is a different story. The [FAA](https://www.thecontrail.org/faa-equipment-outage-ground-stop-newark-jfk-laguardia/) has barred US airlines from flying into the capital's Toussaint Louverture International Airport since November 2024, and it has kept extending that order as gang violence around the city has continued. In March, it widened the restricted area to cover more of southern and central Haiti below 10,000 feet, and in September it extended the ban again. Cap-Haïtien sits outside those zones, which is why American can fly there and not to the capital. American had planned to restart Port-au-Prince flights too, at one point listing a daily Miami flight for later this year. That route depends entirely on the FAA lifting its ban, so don't count on it until the order is gone. American Airlines · Haiti Where You Can Fly in Haiti Flying Cap-Haïtien Daily nonstop from Miami About 2 hours on a Boeing 737 MAX 8 Connect from other US cities via Miami Not flying Port-au-Prince US airlines banned by the FAA since Nov. 2024 Reach it with a short Sunrise Airways flight from Cap-Haïtien Before you goHaiti is under a US "Do Not Travel" warning. Check the advisory and register your trip with the embassy. Contrail --- ## Why US Airlines Left Haiti On Nov. 11, 2024, a Spirit Airlines flight from Fort Lauderdale was hit by gunfire as it came in to land at Port-au-Prince, and a flight attendant was slightly injured. The plane diverted to the Dominican Republic. Soon after, a JetBlue plane and an American plane that had flown to Haiti were also found to have bullet damage. By Nov. 12, the FAA had banned US airlines from flying to Haiti, and the US airlines still serving the country pulled out. The FAA soon reopened airports in the north, including Cap-Haïtien, but US airlines didn't come back. For almost two years, the only ways to fly between the US and Haiti were smaller Caribbean airlines and charter flights, often with connections, or flying into the Dominican Republic and crossing by land. That left a gap for the large Haitian American community in South Florida, which is the biggest in the country and the main reason American picked Miami for the restart. The US State Department still has its highest-level "Do Not Travel" warning in place for all of Haiti. American returning doesn't change that advice, and the airline's decision is about one route to one airport, not a sign that the security picture around the capital has improved. ## Know Before You Fly New routes, travel bans and what they mean for your trip, explained in plain English. Free in your inbox. Get Contrail Free Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. --- ## Who Else Flies to Cap-Haïtien American isn't arriving to an empty airport. Our flight tracking shows Cap-Haïtien scheduled to handle about 20 arrivals today, most of them small turboprop planes from Haitian airline Sunrise Airways. Many of those are short domestic hops from Port-au-Prince and Les Cayes in the south, and a few more come in from nearby islands, including the Turks and Caicos. The other Miami and Fort Lauderdale flights on today's board are run by a charter airline. That puts American's 737 MAX among the biggest planes on the ramp today, and its daily flight the only scheduled nonstop from a major US airline. For travelers headed to Port-au-Prince, the practical route now looks like this: fly American to Cap-Haïtien, then take a short Sunrise flight down to the capital. It adds a stop, but it's a real option that didn't exist yesterday. One small extra detail for anyone flying today: Haiti turned its clocks back an hour this morning, same as Miami, so the [clock change](https://www.thecontrail.org/daylight-saving-time-ends-november-1-flights/) won't throw off your times on this route. --- ## If You're Planning a Trip Book the Miami flight directly with American if you can, since that's the simplest way to get rebooked if the schedule changes. If you're connecting from New York, Orlando or another US city, American can sell it as one ticket through Miami, which protects you if your first flight is late. Check the State Department's advisory and register your trip with the US embassy before you go, especially if you're traveling on to Port-au-Prince or anywhere outside the north. And if you're comparing fares, look at Sunrise and the charter flights as well. American's prices on this route were reportedly much higher than the smaller airlines' when it first went on sale, so the cheapest way to Haiti may still not be the most familiar name.