InterCaribbean Airways explains why they had to stop flights to Haiti   

Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, March 9, 2024 – Along with Caicos Express, InterCaribbean Airways has suspended the bulk of its operations in Haiti following an unprecedented March 02 jailbreak where gangs overwhelmed police and freed 4000 inmates.

Trevor Sadler, CEO and Craig Chapple COO of InterCaribbean explained the decision in a statement.

“We are not pulling out of Haiti, but only suspending flights while the situation in the Capital is managed by the government and police. With 4000 prisoners broken out of jail, there is quite some chaos on the streets of Port-au-Prince, including the airport. This situation has affected travel to and from Port au Prince and those who travel beyond interCaribbean connections onward,” we were told.

The decision was guided by the Turks and Caicos Islands Government which on Monday revealed it had spoken with both airlines and the Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority about a response to the unrest. As for when they would return:

“We plan to resume service, once the capital and surroundings are deemed safe, and it in turn is safe for our handling company to have the airport team able to resume work. We will work with our local handling team in Haiti to determine the current safety situation to plan flight resumptions,” the statement said.

Haitian news agency Le Nouvelliste said no commercial flights from the United States of America or France landed at the Airport in Port-au-Prince on Monday and none were confirmed for Tuesday.

Le Nouvelliste reports that gangs with automatic weapons attempted to enter the airport through a hole in the wall but were held off by the military and police. Following that an airport police station was set ablaze.

InterCaribbean’s cancellations are due to last a week but further discussion is necessary to decide if they will extend it or not. Our news team was told:

“We have cancelled flights until next week but will do a risk assessment later in the week as to whether we should cancel longer.  We are still operating flights to Cap Haitien but these are also risk-assessed to ensure no risk to passengers, crew, staff, and aircraft.”

American Airlines, Spirit, Bahamasair and others have suspended their services in Haiti as well.

Photo Caption: CBC Screenshot