A historic milestone will take place for Venezuela on April 30th, as it will resume regular flights with the United States after a seven-year hiatus.

Following Nicolás Maduro’s capture by the United States, certain restrictions on Venezuela’s aviation sector have been lifted, allowing the resumption of passenger and cargo flights to/from the United States. Some restrictions are still in place, like the ban on Argentine airlines flying over the country.

During April, some U.S. and Canadian airlines, including SkyLease Cargo and Cargojet Airways, operated cargo flights to Caracas for the first time in several years. As for other Venezuelan cities, Amerijet International conducted a special flight between Miami and Valencia using a Boeing 767-300(F) on April 26th.

American is back

On April 30th at 14:55 local time, the first American Airlines flight in seven years will land at Maiquetía International Airport (CCS/SVMI), located 30 kilometers north of Caracas. The airline will initially offer a daily frequency operated by Envoy Air’s Embraer 175 aircraft, which are configured for 76 passengers in two classes (12 seats in Business and 64 seats in Economy).

American will be the first U.S. airline to restore flights between the United States and Venezuela, as well as the first airline from any country to do so. In addition, it will be the first to expand its operations in this market, as it has already confirmed that it will double its flight frequency on the Miami-Caracas route starting May 21st.

With its initial service, American will provide 532 weekly seats between Miami and Caracas and vice versa, a number significantly lower than the airline’s peak in Venezuela, when it operated flights to the Venezuelan capital from Dallas, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, New York, and San Juan (Puerto Rico), as well as between Miami and Maracaibo, totaling around 10 daily flights.

Schedule between Miami and Caracas · American

Daily · eff April 30th

• AA 3599  Miami MIA 10:16 · 13:36 CCS Caracas
• AA 4194  Caracas CCS 14:40 · 18:13 MIA Miami

Daily · eff May 21st

• AA 3759  Miami MIA 08:55 · 12:15 CCS Caracas
• AA 3688  Caracas CCS 13:00 · 16:34 MIA Miami

The Venezuelan capital will be American Airlines’ 14th destination in South America, although it would technically be the 15th, since the airline also operates flights to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, during the South American summer.

American is the leading U.S. airline in South America, as well as in Central America, where it also has an important route network from/to the United States. According to our database, these are its services:

Routes

A second carrier?

Laser Airlines is set to be the second airline to operate flights between Venezuela and the United States, serving the same route as American.

In May, the Venezuelan carrier plans to begin flying to Miami from Caracas using GlobalX’s Airbus A320-200 aircraft, seating 150 passengers, the same aircraft used to transport deportees to Caracas from the US in the past few months.

Since Venezuela is listed as IASA Category 2 by the FAA, Venezuelan airlines are not permitted to operate with their own aircraft in the United States. Laser uses its McDonnell Douglas MD-80s for domestic and some regional flights, and an Airbus A330 from Hi Fly for its Madrid–Caracas route.

Schedule between Miami and Caracas · Laser

Daily

• QL  Miami MIA 07:30 · 10:45 CCS Caracas
• QL  Caracas CCS 12:30 · 15:35 MIA Miami

Subject to change

Maiquetía International Airport is the country’s main airport, serving both domestic and international flights. Recently, several foreign airlines have resumed operations in Venezuela, focusing on Caracas.

Aerocaribe, Avior, Conviasa, Estelar Latinoamérica, Rutaca, Turpial, and Venezolana are the Venezuelan airlines currently in operation; they primarily operate domestic flights but also offer some international routes. For more information about these airlines and their operations, you can check out this post we published on the blog.

Domestic routes in Venezuela

International routes in Venezuela

Caracas is currently connected to Barbados, Colombia, Cuba, Curaçao, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Panama, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey, and will be connected to the United States starting April 30th. Other cities, such as Barquisimeto, Maracaibo, Porlamar, and Valencia, have international connections, with all routes within Latin America.

Cover photo: © Lukas Baudach – JetPhotos (Miami International Airport, United States)

The post Regular passenger flights between US and Venezuela restart this week appeared first on Flightradar24 Blog.