Venezuelan Airspace Dangers Rise As Tensions Escalate

Risk management specialist Osprey Flight Solutions has cautioned that aircraft operating in and around Venezuela face an increasingly hazardous situation due to heightened tensions surrounding the threat of U.S. military action. During a webinar on Tuesday, the company warned that dangers include the threat of misidentification and shoot-downs of aircraft, as well as rapidly changing airspace updates and closures.

In particular, the Osprey team said it is believed there is an underground bunker beneath Ramp 4 of Caracas’ Maiquetia Simon Bolivar International Airport (SVMI) that is used by high-level regime officials. They said the location of this alleged facility poses a substantial threat to business aviation activity immediately above that part of the airport.

Recent weeks have seen a U.S. military buildup in the southern Caribbean Sea alongside ongoing strikes against Venezuelan maritime targets that the Trump Administration says are part of drug smuggling operations. The U.S. Department of State, along with many other countries, refuses to recognize President Nicolas Maduro as Venezuela's legitimate leader.

Risks to Aircraft Operators

Matthew Borie, chief intelligence officer at Osprey Flight Solutions, cautioned that aircraft operating in and over Venezuela are at risk from escalating military conflict. He expressed concern about civil aircraft getting caught in the crossfire from air defense systems if misidentified by military forces.

Crucially, the Venezuelan regime has access to the three types of weapons systems that have been used to shoot down civilian aircraft in the last 11 years. These include the Russian SA-11 missile system used to shoot down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014, the SA-15 targeting Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 over Tehran in 2020, and the SA-22 that downed Azerbaijan Airlines Flight JS-8432 in Kazakhstan in 2024. 

The threat of misidentification also relates to aircraft believed to be operating drug-running flights. Although Osprey has been tracking a “significant increase” in aircraft suspected of narcotics smuggling between August 2021 and 2022, activity over the last year has been “consistently low,” potentially attributed to greater use of sea-based methods.

However, a slight uptick in suspected illicit flights has been recorded since September. On November 23, the Bolivian Armed Forces reported that 26 aircraft have so far been interdicted this year, with the aircraft likely shot down or destroyed.

Military Bunker Is a Target

Potential U.S. action could include strikes against Maduro regime military targets, which “could be co-located with airports,” Borie explained. In September 2025, former U.S. assistant secretary for terrorist financing, Marshall Billingsea, first shared satellite images purporting to show a secret underground bunker below Ramp 4 at Caracas’ Simon Bolivar International Airport, Venezuela’s main international gateway. This is believed to be used by high-level regime officials. This ramp serves business aviation and charter flights.

“Depending on how the regime is moving assets around on the ground at the installation, avoiding Ramp 4 is a key provision that needs to be considered,” Borie advised. With the bunker a target for a potential U.S. air strike, operators should “park their aircraft away from that [ramp 4] area, especially business aviation, air operators, and cargo operators,” he cautioned.

Advice for operators 

“Our biggest recommendation right now to operators is to evaluate your use of territorial Venezuelan airspace,” Borie told webinar participants. This follows a recent FAA notam warning of “potentially hazardous” conditions in the Maiquetta Flight Information Region.

Osprey urges operators to especially consider over-water elements and assessment of divert options, which—given the “dynamic” security situation— could be necessitated by the sudden closure of airspace. “Diverting feasibility throughout the region for your flights to Trinidad and Tobago, Bonaire, Curacao, as well as Puerto Rico, is also advisable at this time,” Borie stressed.

The provision of “active and valid” overflight permits is also essential, following reports that Venezuela has, in recent days, threatened operators who had cancelled flights to Caracas to revoke their overflight permits for the use of Venezuelan airspace.