American Airlines plans to return to Caracas on April 30, ending a seven-year period in which there have been no commercial flights between the U.S. and Venezuela.
American said on April 9 that it will start daily flights between its Miami International Airport (MIA) hub and Caracas Simon Bolivar International Airport (CCS) “as soon as April 30.” Flights on the MIA-CCS route will be operated by American regional subsidiary Envoy Air with an Embraer 175 aircraft. Envoy operates under the American Eagle brand.
The U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) in March granted Envoy’s request for a two-year exemption allowing scheduled foreign air transportation of passengers, cargo and mail between MIA and both Caracas and Maracaibo. American will become the first U.S. carrier to offer service to Venezuela since May 2019, when DOT suspended all commercial flights between the two countries amid severe political tension.
Since a Jan. 3 U.S. military raid in Caracas extracted Nicolás Maduro—the former Venezuelan president, who is now in prison in the U.S. awaiting a criminal trial—new leadership in the country has taken a softer stance toward the U.S. American announced in late January that it would seek authority to return to serving Venezuela.
While tentatively setting April 30 as the date for flights to begin, American said the launch is “subject to government approval and ongoing preparations.”
Nate Gatten, American’s executive vice president of American Eagle, corporate real estate and government affairs, said the airline is “encouraged by the progress we’ve made with both governments” toward restarting service.
American was the last U.S. airline that operated flights to Venezuela before all service was halted. According to OAG Schedules Analyser data, the carrier offered 362,000 two-way seats between the two countries in 2018—about 58% of total capacity in the market—with nonstop flights from MIA to both Caracas and Maracaibo.
American originally started serving Venezuela in 1987. “Our commitment to connecting Venezuela with the U.S. spans more than 30 years, and we look forward to the new opportunities for commerce and strengthened ties with family and friends that our service will provide,” American CCO Nat Pieper said.
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