United To Return To Venezuela After Nine-Year Hiatus

United Airlines will resume nonstop service between Houston and Caracas in August after a nine-year hiatus, becoming the second U.S. carrier to restore flights to Venezuela as commercial aviation links between the two countries continue to reopen.

The Chicago-based carrier plans to launch daily flights between Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport and Caracas Simon Bolivar International Airport from Aug. 11 using Boeing 737-8 aircraft.

United last served Venezuela in June 2017, operating a Houston-Aruba-Caracas routing after discontinuing nonstop Houston-Caracas service two months earlier. The airline had previously served the Venezuelan market for more than two decades before withdrawing amid deteriorating economic and political conditions.

“This flight will help strengthen cultural and economic ties across the Americas and further reinforces United’s Houston hub as a leading gateway to the region,” says Patrick Quayle, United Senior Vice President of Global Network Planning and Alliances.

The resumption follows American Airlines’ return to Venezuela in April, ending a nearly seven-year period during which no U.S. carriers operated scheduled commercial flights to the country.

American initially restarted daily Miami-Caracas service using Envoy Air Embraer E175 aircraft and is scheduled to double frequency to 14 weekly flights from May 22, according to OAG Schedules Analyzer data. Venezuelan carrier Laser Airlines has also resumed Miami-Caracas service through a partnership with Global Crossing Airlines.

The return of U.S. airlines comes after Washington suspended commercial air services between the U.S. and Venezuela in May 2019, citing security concerns tied to Venezuela’s political crisis and the absence of a U.S. diplomatic presence in the country.

However, relations between the two countries have shifted in recent months following the Jan. 3 capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. military operation and the installation of new leadership in Caracas. The U.S. Transportation Department has since approved a series of exemptions allowing airlines to restore scheduled passenger service.

“This specific flight will be critical to ferrying oil sector workers into the country as the U.S. and Venezuela work together to expand production and generate new economic opportunities,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says.

Prior to the 2019 suspension, Venezuela represented one of the largest U.S.-South America markets. Sabre Market Intelligence data shows nearly 602,000 two-way O&D passengers traveled between the countries in 2018. American alone accounted for about 58% of total U.S.-Venezuela capacity that year, operating flights from Miami to both Caracas and Maracaibo.

United’s planned return to Venezuela comes after Qatar Airways announced this week that it plans to launch twice-weekly Doha-Bogota-Caracas service from July 22 using 777-200 aircraft, becoming the first Gulf carrier to serve Venezuela.