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Direct commercial flights between the United States and Venezuela have resumed after a roughly seven-year pause.
Some shit you should know before you dig in: Back in 2019, the US banned all commercial and cargo flights to Venezuela after the Department of Homeland Security said conditions in the country were a threat to the safety of passengers, aircraft, and crew. American Airlines was the last US carrier flying there before the ban, with Delta and United having pulled out two years earlier amid the political crisis that pushed millions of Venezuelans out of the country. Things started shifting after US forces captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a January nighttime raid in Caracas, with his vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, taking over as acting leader. Since then, Rodríguez has released hundreds of political prisoners and eased restrictions on foreign investment in the country’s oil industry. The US has also rolled back sanctions on Venezuelan banks and other entities. The US formally reopened its embassy in Caracas in late March, and the Department of Homeland Security rescinded the flight ban two weeks ago after determining conditions in Venezuela “no longer threaten the safety and security of passengers, aircraft, and crew.”
What’s going on now: Flight AA3599, run by American’s subsidiary Envoy Air, lifted off from Miami International at 10:11 a.m. and was on the tarmac at Simón Bolívar International outside Caracas a little over three hours later. The route will run daily, with the return flight leaving Caracas in the afternoon and getting back to Miami in the early evening. A second daily run is set to launch May 21.
Round-trip tickets for May are running over $1,000 on the airline’s website, and the inaugural flight wasn’t full (weight limits held capacity to about two-thirds, and most of those seats went to journalists and officials).
Jarrod Agen, director of the US National Energy Dominance Council, was on the inaugural flight and is scheduled to meet with Venezuelan officials and energy and mining executives as part of the Trump administration’s push to get US companies into the country.
Reactions: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was on hand for the Miami ribbon-cutting alongside State Department and local officials and called the flight “a critical milestone in strengthening the United States relationship with Venezuela and unleashing economic opportunity in both countries.”
American Airlines executive vice president Nate Gatten said the company was “proud to be the first airline to resume service” between the two countries.
The Department of Transportation said other US carriers have expressed strong interest in restoring flights to Caracas and other Venezuelan destinations.
Venezuelan Transportation Minister Jacqueline Faría said her country welcomes American visitors and is hoping to serve more than 100,000 passengers a year. Some Venezuelans hoping to fly the other way could still face hurdles like securing passports and visas, since Venezuela doesn’t currently have a consulate operating in the US.
