CARACAS — Two strong earthquakes wreak havoc in Venezuela’s northern coast, as the country’s busiest airport comes to standstill. Simón Bolívar International Airport in Caracas suspended all commercial operations after suffering structural damage, disrupting more than 110 scheduled flights and leaving thousands of passengers stranded as authorities launched safety inspections with no reopening timeline in sight.
Flight tracking data showed that aircraft movements at Caracas came to a complete stop following the earthquakes. Several evening flights were either diverted or canceled, underscoring the immediate impact of the disaster on the country’s busiest aviation hub.
The International Airport (CCS), serving as primary gateway for domestic and international travel, remained closed throughout Thursday after Wednesday’s earthquakes triggered structural damage inside the terminal. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez confirmed that the airport would stay shut while engineers conduct detailed inspections, with no reopening timeline announced.
The closure affected full day’s operations. A total of 56 passenger flights were scheduled to arrive at Caracas on June 25, offering 8,505 inbound seats. With departures also suspended, more than 110 planned flight movements were disrupted, although officials have yet to release an official tally of canceled, diverted, delayed, or repositioned flights.
The shutdown rippled across Latin America, North America, Europe, and the Caribbean.
Copa Airlines was scheduled to operate three arrivals from Panama City, providing 458 seats, while LASER Airlines had three domestic services planned from Porlamar. Avianca was due to operate two flights from Bogotá carrying 360 seats, and American Airlines, having only resumed its Miami-Caracas service in April, had two scheduled arrivals from Miami. Flights from Madrid, Istanbul, São Paulo, Curaçao, Havana, Managua, Medellín, Punta Cana, and multiple Venezuelan cities were also caught up in the disruption.
The scale of closure is significant. Cirium data shows Caracas was scheduled to receive 1,496 inbound flights during June, representing 218,993 available seats, with Panama City, Bogotá, Porlamar, Curaçao, Madrid, Maracaibo, Barcelona, and Istanbul among its busiest markets.
Copa Airlines canceled its Wednesday evening CM330 flight from Panama City and three additional Thursday services to Caracas. Wingo scrapped its scheduled Bogotá-Caracas flight, while a Turkish Airlines service from Istanbul was forced to divert to Panama City instead of continuing to Venezuela.
Avianca also canceled flight AV122 on June 24, followed by AV123, AV142, and AV143 on June 25. The Colombian carrier activated a flexible travel policy for passengers booked between June 24 and July 1, allowing customers to rebook without penalties for travel within 15 days, reroute through Cúcuta, or request refunds for unused portions of their tickets. Copa Airlines has also introduced flexible travel options for passengers affected by the closure.
Clips doing rounfs online show collapsed ceiling sections, fallen roof panels, debris scattered across passenger areas, and thick dust covering parts of the terminal. Local reports also indicate damage to airport parking facilities and access roads.
Despite visible destruction, authorities have not yet released a comprehensive engineering assessment covering the airport’s runways, taxiways, air traffic control systems, navigation equipment, fuel infrastructure, baggage handling facilities, or emergency-response capabilities.
A functioning runway alone is not enough to restart commercial operations. Passenger terminals, security checkpoints, utilities, evacuation routes, and emergency services must all be inspected and certified before airlines can safely resume normal schedules.
The damage occurred after two powerful earthquakes measuring magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 struck less than a minute apart off Venezuela’s northwestern coast near Caracas. The tremors were felt across much of northern Venezuela and neighboring Colombia, with reports of structural damage to buildings in the Venezuelan capital.
Casualties feared as several buildings collapse in Venezuela twin earthquakes
