Caracas: American Airlines will become on Thursday the first US airline to resume direct commercial flights to Venezuela after a seven-year suspension, as part of the progressive normalization of diplomatic relations between Caracas and Washington. Flight AA3599, operated by Envoy Air — an American Airlines subsidiary — is scheduled to depart Miami International Airport at 10:16 local time (06:16 GMT) bound for Caracas's Simón Bolívar International Airport, with an approximate flight time of three hours, returning to Florida in the afternoon.

The airline had announced its intention to restore service to Venezuela in January, the same day President Donald Trump instructed the US Department of Transportation to open commercial airspace over the South American country. The resumption of air routes is one of the first concrete gestures of the bilateral normalization agreed in March 2026, after Washington and Caracas decided to fully restore diplomatic relations.

Seven Years of Diplomatic and Aviation Rupture

The history of direct flights between the two countries is closely linked to political tensions. American Airlines was the last US airline to operate direct flights to Venezuela, until it suspended them in 2019. That year, in February, then-President Nicolás Maduro severed diplomatic relations with the United States following Trump's support, in his first term, for opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who had proclaimed himself interim president and was recognized as the legitimate leader by Washington and dozens of countries that deemed Maduro's reelection fraudulent.

In May 2019, US authorities ordered the suspension of all commercial and cargo flights to Venezuela, arguing that social unrest and political tension in the country posed an unacceptable risk to civil aviation. However, the practical impact was limited, as US airlines had already ceased regular routes to Venezuela long before that official date, given the sustained deterioration of the country's economic and security situation.

The Geopolitical Shift That Makes the Flight Possible

The resumption of direct air service is a direct consequence of the diplomatic shift that began in January 2026, when a US military operation captured then-President Maduro in Caracas and transferred him to New York to face drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges. Two days after the operation, Delcy Rodríguez — Vice President and close Maduro ally — was sworn in as Venezuela's acting president and opened a communication channel with Washington. In March, both governments formally restored diplomatic relations.

The resumption of flights will have a direct impact on the more than seven million Venezuelans living outside their country, many of whom have been unable to return home or receive family visits directly and affordably for years. Venezuelan diaspora organizations in Miami celebrated the announcement and noted that the direct air link will significantly reduce travel times and costs, which in recent years forced passengers to connect through Panama, Colombia, or the Dominican Republic.