Overview:
Panama has suspended all flights to and from Haiti, additional isolating the nation as gang violence worsens. Native airline Dawn Airways, which primarily operates in Cap-Haïtien and has been almost single-handedly connecting Haiti internationally since final fall, confirmed the ban following the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s extension of flight restrictions to Port-au-Prince till March 2026. These measures mirror growing regional concern over Haiti’s declining safety, with almost 90% of the capital managed by gangs, ongoing assaults on provincial cities and over 3,000 deaths reported in 2025 alone.
PORT-AU-PRINCE— Panama has suspended all flights to and from Haiti, Dawn Airways introduced Monday, additional isolating the nation because it struggles with deepening gang violence and political instability.
“Following the choice of the Panamanian authorities, all flights to and from Panama are canceled till additional discover,” Dawn Airways mentioned Sept. 22 in a statement posted on X. The airline added that affected passengers could be contacted with choices for refunds or rescheduling. Different worldwide flights operated by Dawn stay unaffected.
Panama’s authorities has not issued a public rationalization for the choice, however the transfer comes as regional and worldwide companions tighten restrictions on journey to Haiti on account of escalating insecurity.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prolonged its ban on flights between the US and the Haitian capital till March 7, 2026, citing security dangers after gunfire struck three U.S.-bound planes in late 2024. The FAA first grounded industrial flights final November, and this month’s extension retains Haiti reduce off from American carriers for at the least one other six months.
Collectively, the FAA and Panama measures mark a brand new setback for Haitian vacationers, lots of whom depend on Panama’s Tocumen Worldwide Airport as a hub for reaching the remainder of the Americas and the Caribbean. With American, Canadian, French and now Panamanian routes suspended, Haitians face shrinking choices for worldwide air journey.
Haiti’s rising isolation as worldwide talks proceed
The most recent restrictions spotlight how Haiti’s spiraling insecurity is reshaping migration and journey throughout the area. Almost 90% of Port-au-Prince stays underneath gang management, in response to United Nations estimates. Gang violence has displaced greater than 1.3 million folks since 2024 and has killed over 3,000 in 2025 alone.
Current assaults embody a Sept. 11 bloodbath in Cabaret’s Labodrie— a seaside fishing group situated within the Arcahaie district about 20 miles north of Port-au-Prince— that left greater than 50 folks lifeless and scores of households displaced. That is an addition to current killings in Kenscoff, Artibonite’s Liancourt and Kanpenyen and Northwest’s Bassin-Bleu, the place gunmen torched police stations, hospitals, houses and farms. Haiti’s Nationwide Police (PNH) and the Kenya-led Multinational Safety Help Mission (MSS), deployed since June final 12 months, proceed to wrestle with restricted manpower and assets.
The collapse of economic air journey can also be straining humanitarian entry. Help teams report that restrictions make it tougher to rotate employees and transport provides into Port-au-Prince, the place displaced households face meals shortages and a collapsing well being system.
The suspension comes as world leaders debate the following steps to address Haiti’s worsening crisis. At a high-level assembly Monday on the sidelines of the U.N. Common Meeting in New York, Kenyan President William Ruto, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and Haitian Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) President Laurent Saint-Cyr renewed requires pressing U.N. authorization of a proposed 5,500-strong Gang Suppression Pressure (GSF).
“Following the choice of the Panamanian authorities, all flights to and from Panama are canceled till additional discover.”
Dawn Airways
The drive, backed by greater than 30 international locations, primarily from the Americas, could be tasked with breaking gang territorial management, securing important infrastructure and supporting a transition again to democratic governance.
Nevertheless, regardless of broad help, the U.N. Safety Council has but to approve the deployment.
“Sadly, the adoption of this decision just isn’t a completed deal,” Landau mentioned of the joint U.S.-Panama proposal to rework the MSs into the GSF. “ Regardless of overwhelming help of the UN Safety Council, there are nonetheless those that may attempt to stop its adoption or sluggish our response in Haiti’s hour of want. The time for motion is now, and the US asks all our companions to hitch us in urgent for this important decision earlier than the MSS mission mandate expires on Oct. 2,” the U.S. diplomat added.
Ruto warned that Kenya would commit further personnel provided that the mission is backed by predictable U.N. funding.
“Haiti’s safety disaster requires speedy help and a well-coordinated transition,” Ruto mentioned. “The largest problem has been logistics and help. With out that, the following mission will face the identical failures.”
Saint-Cyr, in New York with a 30-member delegation, urged the worldwide group to behave swiftly. He’s anticipated to deal with the eightieth session of the UN Common Meeting on Sept. 25.
“The worldwide group should get up for the folks of Haiti,” Ruto added, echoing Saint-Cyr. “The gangs are cowards, hiding behind guerrilla ways. This disaster calls for pressing world motion.”