Emergency line for tourists and visitors: 1-800-981-7575 (available in English and Spanish)
Department of State email: info@estado.pr.gov (you must have completed the Department of State form)
The Tourism Company recommends that travelers stay in direct contact with their airlines to get the latest status on their flights and rebooking options.
What's happening? Puerto Rico's airspace reopened in the early hours of Sunday, Jan. 4, following the temporary restrictions imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a result of U.S. military action in Venezuela.
The first commercial flights began landing from Newark, Miami and Washington, D.C., marking the start of the return to normal operations, the Compañía de Turismo reported.
"With the reopening of the airspace, our immediate focus is to support a gradual resumption of flights, working hand in hand with airlines, airports and the various components of the tourism industry to efficiently manage the accumulated delays and passenger rebooking processes," said Willianette Robles Cancel, executive director of Turismo.
JetBlue Airways: 1-800-538-2583
Spirit Airlines: 1-801-401-2222
American Airlines: 1-800-433-7300
Delta Air Lines: 1-800-221-1212
United Airlines: 1-800-864-8331
Southwest Airlines: 1-800-435-9792
Frontier Airlines: 1-801-401-9000
Sun Country Airlines: 1-800-359-6786
Allegiant Air: 1-702-505-8888
The impact in numbers. The restrictions, which took effect at 2:00 a.m. Saturday, caused the cancellation of 420 flights in a single day:
401 cancellations at Aeropuerto Internacional Luis Muñoz Marín (SJU)
13 cancellations at Aeropuerto Internacional Rafael Hernández (BQN)
6 cancellations at Aeropuerto Internacional Mercedita in Ponce (PSE)
This affected roughly 48,000 passengers in San Juan and about 700 more at the regional airports, according to Jorge Hernández, president of Aerostar.
As of 8:15 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 4, 20 cancellations were reported in San Juan and none in Aguadilla or Ponce.
Cruise operations running normally.
Maritime operations were not affected by the airspace restrictions. The four cruises scheduled for today are disembarking without incident at the Bahía de San Juan:
Norwegian Epic: 4,100 passengers
Grand Princess: 2,600 passengers
Royal Caribbean Brilliance of the Seas: 2,100 passengers
Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection Ilma: 448 passengers
On Saturday, Compañía de Turismo director Willianette Robles reported that about 2,100 cruise passengers were affected by flight cancellations, but half were relocated to hotels.
How the government responded. Gov. Jenniffer González signed Executive Order 2026-001 to coordinate the response among agencies including Turismo, Puertos, Estado and security agencies. As part of the contingency plan, the following were activated:
El Centro de Convenciones de Puerto Rico in Miramar
Designated hotels: Fairmont El San Juan, Royal Sonesta (Isla Verde) and Sheraton del Distrito de Convenciones. Ballrooms at the Aloft San Juan and Hyatt Place hotels in Bayamón and Manatí were also made available.
Free transportation from the airport to these locations
A call center for direct assistance (1-800-981-7575)
In total, space was made available for 1,160 people.
Read more: Plan activated for visitors following flight cancellations amid situation in Venezuela
This content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
