Haiti could be ‘completely isolated’ as gunfire closes main airport again
Al Jazeera
US issues new alert after Spirit and JetBlue planes were hit by bullets Monday amid rampant gang violence.
Haiti’s main international airport remains shut down for the second time this year after two United States commercial passenger planes were hit by suspected gang gunfire, leaving the conflict-torn state cut off from the travel industry.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday banned all US airlines from operating in Haiti for 30 days, citing the two incidents involving planes from Spirit Airlines and JetBlue Airways.
It remains unclear how soon operations for any airline can resume at Port-au-Prince’s Toussaint Louverture International Airport due to passenger security and aircraft insurance concerns.
“Haiti could find itself completely isolated,” said Emilio Gonzalez, a former US National Security Council director for Latin America and former director of Miami International Airport.
“I can’t imagine any airline, passenger or commercial, will be willing to fly into a free-fire zone, which is what Haiti has become, for the foreseeable future,” he told Al Jazeera. “The Haitian government is going to have to convince the world that it’s safe to land there. That’s a huge lift right now.”
