Caribbean flights resuming after U.S. military strike in Venezuela, officials say

Flights returning home from the Caribbean were resuming Sunday following the U.S. strikes on Venezuela, though some Long Islanders were stranded in their holiday vacations one week longer than expected.

Dozens of flights to and from the Caribbean were canceled on Saturday, hours after the United States launched an operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

"Early this morning in support of the Department of War, the [Federal Aviation Administration] restricted the airspace in the Caribbean and Venezuela to ensure the SAFETY of the flying public," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote in a social media post on Saturday.

Late Saturday night, Duffy issued an update saying restrictions around Caribbean airspace were being lifted as of midnight Saturday into Sunday. "Flights can resume," he wrote. "Airlines are informed, and will update their schedules quickly. Please continue to work with your airline if your flight was affected."

President Donald Trump announced Saturday that the United States was "going to run" Venezuela until a transition of power took place, as Maduro arrived at a federal detention center in Brooklyn.

More than 400 flights had been canceled as of Saturday evening, as airlines waived change and cancellation fees for customers traveling to and from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Aruba.

Sunday morning, American Airlines said in a prepared statement that it was resuming service in the eastern Caribbean and increasing the number of available seats by using bigger aircraft and adding flights "to add as much lift as possible to support as many customers as possible."

Southwest Airlines added six extra flights to Puerto Rico on Sunday and another eight on Monday to help stranded travelers get home.

JetBlue said it had resumed operations and was rebooking customers and, where possible, adding flights.

Ashley Acunto, 29, of East Meadow, who had been on vacation, was on her way to the airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Saturday when her boyfriend learned their Frontier Airlines flight home was canceled.

"We had all our stuff packed. We were in the hotel lobby about to check out," she told Newsday by telephone.

A cruise ship full of people next to their hotel, also scheduled to fly out of San Juan on Saturday, stood beside them trying to make alternate plans.

"There were a bunch of people all around freaking out," Acunto said.

Hotel staff told Acunto there were no rooms available Saturday, until her boyfriend offered them $800 for the night, she said. The next Frontier flight back to New York was on Jan. 10, seven days after their scheduled departure, she said.

Acunto, who is in the process of moving to Florida for a new job later this month as a nurse practitioner, said she was missing a wrestling match back home that cost her $500 for her and her friend's tickets.

"But I'm stuck in paradise, so I guess I can’t be that annoyed," she said.

The events in Venezuela were not likely to impact local gas prices, an expert said. "I don’t think it’ll have much effect at all," Robert Sinclair, AAA Northeast spokesman, told Newsday.

"Despite having the world’s largest oil reserves, Venezuela only puts out 1% of total global crude oil daily output," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.