American Airlines resumes Miami to Caracas flights after six-year halt

Commercial passenger service between the United States and Venezuela returned Thursday as American Airlines launched flights from Miami to Caracas, restoring a route that had been shut down for more than six years. The restart gives Venezuelan families, business travelers and members of the diaspora a direct path between South Florida and Maiquetía Simón Bolívar International Airport, reducing a trip that had often required longer connections through other cities.

American said the service will operate daily with an Embraer 175 flown by Envoy, and that a second daily flight is planned for May 21. The airline said the aircraft includes a dual-class cabin, Wi-Fi and in-seat power. American also said the route fits more than 30 years of service in Venezuela, where it began flying in 1987 and was the largest U.S. airline before operations were suspended in 2019.

The return was enabled by a series of regulatory moves in Washington. The U.S. Department of Transportation suspended direct U.S.-Venezuela air service effective May 15, 2019, after the Department of Homeland Security cited civil unrest, violence around airports, difficulty conducting TSA security assessments, and broader political and economic instability. In January 2026, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy lifted the 2019 order after direction from President Donald Trump, and later approved American’s request to resume service in March. The Transportation Security Administration also conducted an airport security review in Caracas before flights could restart.

The reopening comes as the U.S. has begun to loosen some of the restrictions that defined years of isolation. The State Department lowered Venezuela’s travel advisory to Level 3, Reconsider travel, on March 19, 2026, while keeping several areas at Level 4, Do Not Travel, including the Venezuela-Colombia border region, Amazonas, Apure, Aragua outside Maracay, rural Bolívar, Guárico and Táchira. Routine consular services remain suspended, with most services still handled through the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, even as the U.S. formally resumed operations at its embassy in Caracas on March 30, 2026.

For Venezuela’s families and business community, the flight is a practical gain: easier visits, faster cargo-adjacent travel and a clearer path for humanitarian trips. For Washington, it is a narrower political signal. The resumption suggests room for selective engagement with Caracas, but it does not erase the security warnings, the travel restrictions or the deeper diplomatic fractures that still define the relationship.