American Airlines Increases Flights to Venezuela

Oneworld alliance member American Airlines is to boost flights to Venezuela this week when it increases the frequency of its New York – Caracas route. The US carrier currently offers two weekly rotations between John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York and Simon Bolivar International Airport (CCS) in Caracas but from November 18 will boost its services to five times weekly. The route is served by a 188-seat Boeing 757-200.

American first launched flights to Venezuela, its first destination in South and Central America, on August 1, 1987 with flights between San Juan, Puerto Rico and Caracas. The airline currently has 48 weekly flights into and out of Venezuela, serving Caracas from Miami, San Juan, Dallas/Fort Worth and New York/JFK, and Maracaibo from Miami.

An estimated 143,000 O&D passengers travelled between USA and Venezuela last year with around 58,000 flying between New York JFK and Caracas. Just under half of these passengers are travelling on American’s direct flight, although due to the existing frequency of service around 15 per cent currently fly with American via Miami International and a further 13 per cent via San Juan. The additional three weekly flights will likely pick up much of this leakage and at the same time stimulate demand.

"Our increased service to Caracas underscores the importance of the Venezuelan market as well as our commitment to provide our passengers the premier network in Latin America," said Peter Dolara, Senior Vice President – Mexico, Caribbean and Latin America, American Airlines. "Caracas is an important business destination and home to the famous Teleferico, cable cars that take you to the top of El avila National Park; the Caracas Botanical Garden, containing more than 2,000 native flora; and of course, the Parque Los Chorros, which includes the only natural waterfall in a capital city park. These additional flights will help increase tourism to these Venezuelan treasures."